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A home on Dalton Avenue suffered extensive damage from a fire on Friday night. Pictures sent courtesy Pittsfield Fire Department.

Pittsfield Fire Investigating Cause of Dalton Avenue Blaze

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton Avenue home was heavily damaged by fire on Friday night. 
 
Multiple people driving by the structure at 206 Dalton called 911 report heavy flames coming from the front of the building, according to Deputy Fire Chief Neil Myers. 
 
Firefighters responded at about 10:39 p.m. with four engine companies and a ladder company. Engine 2 found the front of the two-story residence fully involved with flame and spreading into the front yard. Shortly thereafter E-2 reported the lone occupant of the home had safely evacuated uninjured. 
 
E-2 quickly knocked down the bulk of the fire that was quickly spreading inside the front windows and up to the roof line. E-3 provided a hydrant line to E-2 just as they were running out of water. 
 
A backup hoseline was stretched to the building to assist with primary searches throughout all floors. The fire was deemed under control within 15 minutes and units remained on scene for 90 minutes overhauling the fire damaged areas and ensuring the fire was completely extinguished. 
 
A cat was initially believed to have perished in the blaze but was found alive overnight by the fire watch crew on scene. 
 
The home suffered extensive fire to the front side and into the first floor with a large portion of the home only suffering smoke damage. 
 
A combination of the quick recognition and 911 call by passers-by, the 30-second response time from E-2 station to the fire and the hard work of all on duty crews certainly saved this home from further damage, said Myers.
 
The resident was able to find alternate living arrangements. 
 
Police assisted in closing the eastbound lane of Dalton Avenue for the duration of the incident, County Ambulance provided EMS standby and Lenox Fire provided city coverage with its ladder truck. 
 
The Fire Investigation Unit is currently investigating the cause/origin of the blaze.

Tags: structure fire,   

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Dalton Considers Updating its Municipal Code

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The town is considering updating its original 18-year municipal code to 2026 standards. 
 
During a recent Select Board meeting, General Code New England account manager Zach Dumont outlined the 18- to-24 month process. 
 
General Code New England is a division of the International Code Council, which writes all the statewide building codes across the United States. For the last 18 years, the organization has been the codifier for municipalities. 
 
"We work with communities to build, maintain, and update your local municipal code. That is your collection of bylaws, ordinances, regulations, and any other legislation you've ever adopted," Dumont said. 
 
Once the project is complete, the town would have a fully updated set of books and an improved eCode360 site, he said. 
 
"The way the process would work is we would put together a scope of work, a timeline, a price point, and everything that we would want to touch or do as a part of the code project," Dumont said. 
 
When a municipal code is built, it has a general lifespan of about 15 to 20 years, and although that is a long time, it goes by very quickly, he said. 
 
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