No smoke alarms found after fatal fire in Middleboro condo-complex, injured Lakeville first responder recovering from serious injuries
Charred and damaged building materials can be seen at the scene of the Dec. 7 fatal fire that occurred at 172 Ashley Lane in Middleboro. Photos by Sam Tucker
According to fire officials, the blaze began in the living room area on the first floor of the condo unit.
Bags of burnt materials are bagged up after being collected by a commercial cleaning crew.
The fire spread to the two adjacent condo units on either side of the 172 unit that caught fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Pam Garant waves to the crowd of first responders who gathered for her release from St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford on Thursday, Dec. 11. Photo source: Lakeville Fire Department 
Multiple area fire departments showed up in force to greet Garant at the hospital. Photo source: Lakeville Fire Department 
First responders drove together from New Bedford to help bring Garant back to her home Thursday night. Photo source: Lakeville Fire Department
Charred and damaged building materials can be seen at the scene of the Dec. 7 fatal fire that occurred at 172 Ashley Lane in Middleboro. Photos by Sam Tucker
According to fire officials, the blaze began in the living room area on the first floor of the condo unit.
Bags of burnt materials are bagged up after being collected by a commercial cleaning crew.
The fire spread to the two adjacent condo units on either side of the 172 unit that caught fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Pam Garant waves to the crowd of first responders who gathered for her release from St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford on Thursday, Dec. 11. Photo source: Lakeville Fire Department
Multiple area fire departments showed up in force to greet Garant at the hospital. Photo source: Lakeville Fire Department
First responders drove together from New Bedford to help bring Garant back to her home Thursday night. Photo source: Lakeville Fire Department
MIDDLEBORO — The Ashley Lane condominium fire that left one person dead, and injured three others — including the Lakeville Deputy Fire Chief — had no smoke alarms according to state fire investigators.
A spokesperson for the Department of Fire Services, the state’s fire prevention agency, said investigators did not find any smoke alarms installed when the Dec. 7 fire broke out at the Middleboro condo complex. After sustaining serious injuries from the response, Deputy Chief Pam Garant was released from St. Luke's Hospital on Thursday, Dec. 11.
The agency’s Public Information Officer Jake Wark said investigators didn’t just find inoperable smoke alarms — no smoke alarms were present in the unit.
Wark said investigators have found no smoke alarms in a total of six fatal fire cases across the state since October 1.
According to Middleboro fire officials, there was heavy smoke and flames coming from the first and second floors of the condominium building at 172 Ashley Lane when crews arrived on site early Sunday.
Wark said the fire originated from the living room of the home — which has two additional connected condo-units on either side of it — where first responders found an individual dead on arrival. Wark said smoke alarms were present in the adjacent two units.
The Department of Fire Services also confirmed they received reports from neighbors that a loud "boom" occurred at the scene before first responders arrived. It is common procedure for State Police's Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit to assist fire departments in structure-fire responses, Wark said.
The Lakeville Fire Department said in a statement that Garant was fighting the fire before the building partially collapsed. Middleboro Fire Department Acting Lt. Robert Delaney then found Garant pinned beneath burning debris.
Delaney worked to free her, and Middleboro Police Officer Aidan Nemar then assisted in moving Garant to a safe area.
Garant was then treated by a Lakeville firefighter-paramedic and a crew from Coastal Ambulance and was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital. Wark said she has been recovering from her injuries at the New Bedford hospital, and dozens of first responders from area departments greeted her upon her release.
"Deputy Pamela Garant has a long road ahead of her, and we are all hoping that road leads her right back to the Lakeville Fire Department," the Lakeville Fire Department said in a statement after her release.
Multiple residents of the nearby buildings have been displaced, and are receiving support from the American Red Cross, according to fire officials. The number of displaced people of the nearby households has not been released by the Middleboro Fire Department’s public relations office.
Laura Levesque, who has lived directly next door to the burnt building for 11 years, said she was woken up around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday after her boyfriend saw the building was on fire, and the following response from police and fire.
“It was just devastating. We were just so scared and so sad because it looked like the fire was spreading to the other units,” she said. “Then finally, the fire truck got there and we just watched them try to put it out … it was bad.”
Paul Travers, who also lives next door to the unit, said he’s never seen a scene like Sunday’s in the 36 years he’s been living on Ashley Lane.
“We came outside, and all you could see was flames and black smoke. All we could do is watch,” Travers said. “Within five to 10 minutes, the fire department was here and I just thought — not this time of year, please.”
Joe Manning, who has lived across the street from 172 Ashley Lane for about three years, said he and his wife were surprised to see the fire spread so quickly.
“My wife noticed the cop cars out there, and we couldn't believe it when we stepped outside. It probably was only 10-minutes and the whole place was up [in flames],” Manning said.
“I just couldn't believe it happened so fast. It's just crazy, and it's spread to the other units so fast too,” he added.
The identity of the dead individual, and the condition of the two other injured victims involved in the fire have not been released.
According to the Middleboro Board of Assessors online database — which collects information on each parcel of property in town — the 172 Ashley Lane unit is owned by Gerald J. Gordon. According to neighbors and an obituary from Dahlborg-MacNevin Funeral Home in Lakeville, Gordon died earlier this year following an illness.
It is not known who owned or occupied the home after Gordon’s passing.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office did not respond for comment on information about the victims by publication.
The Lakeville Fire Department, along with Bridgewater, Raynham, Wareham and Carver jointly responded to the scene on Sunday.
The origin and cause of the fire remain under investigation by the Middleboro Fire and Police Departments, the Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit attached to the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Massachusetts State Police Detectives.
