Adams man charged with Beaver Street arson by Mark Randall North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- An Adams man was arraigned Monday on an arson charge in connection with the Nov. 16 fire that destroyed an apartment unit in a complex at 277-279 Beaver St. The suspect was arrested Saturday. The fire broke out in the only vacant unit at the six-unit apartment building on Beaver Street and completely gutted the empty unit. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze before it spread, but an adjacent unit did sustain minor fire damage and others suffered smoke damage. The fire was initially believed to have been of "suspicious origin" and, according to Ware, a police K-9 unit from the State police detected evidence that a liquid accelerant was used to set the blaze. According to Ware, the sample taken from the scene is still at the lab and no determination has yet been made as to its nature, but firefighters did note the odor of gasoline was present. The fire is believed to have started on the second floor in the empty apartment unit and spread to the attic of the adjoining unit before it could be contained. Residents from the other five units were evacuated safely. © 1999 theTranscript.com. All rights reserved.