NORTHFIELD — One cat perished in a house fire on Main Street Thursday night, according to Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III.

Neither of the two families living in the building, which is divided into two apartments, nor responding firefighters were injured during the blaze at 39 Main St., Dunnell said. The structure sustained heavy smoke and water damage.

Dunnell’s department was alerted to the fire at 10:37 p.m. and quickly responded to the house, located next to Northfield EMS.

“All the residents had escaped when we arrived. There were no injuries,” he said. “There was a pet that was lost, unfortunately. Upstairs, we found a cat that had died.”

Dunnell said crews had the fire under control within an hour of their arrival and the blaze was fully extinguished by 2:30 a.m. One fire engine remained at the house until 7 a.m. so the remaining firefighters could monitor hotspots.

“When we arrived on scene, the back end was fully involved,” Dunnell recounted. “The damage was pretty bad, but we had it under control in less than an hour. There was extensive mop up after that.”

Mutual aid was provided by the Bernardston, Gill, Turners Falls, Erving, Warwick, Greenfield, Winchester, New Hampshire, Hinsdale, New Hampshire and Vernon, Vermont fire departments.

Tenant Aime Haight, in an interview Friday morning, recounted that her daughter, Madison, first noticed the fire and quickly alerted the other residents to escape.

“My daughter’s the one who found the fire,” Haight said. “She got us out and then they (the homeowners who lived in the upstairs apartment) came down as well.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Dunnell. Investigators with the State Fire Marshal’s Office arrived Friday morning to examine the property.

“The fire was so intense it’s hard to determine where it started,” Dunnell said, “but it appears it started on the back porch, then moved inside, up to the second floor and attic.”

Haight described the property as uninhabitable. The upstairs apartment incurred smoke and fire damage, and the downstairs unit incurred water damage. The vehicle that was parked next to the porch sustained damage, too.

Haight mentioned she is grateful to the first responders for their efforts.

Despite the fire, Haight said Madison, a freshman at Turners Falls High School, still plans to play in this weekend’s softball championship and is looking forward to competing against their rivals, Greenfield High School.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.