The following editorial is from the opinion page of The Republican newspaper in Springfield. It reflects views of the newspaper’s leadership and not necessarily those of MassLive. Readers are invited to share their opinions by emailing to letters@repub.com .

A fire in Amherst this month destroyed a large apartment building and displaced more than 230 people. Gratitude in town that no one lost their life Nov. 7 must now be replaced with a clear realization:

Amherst got lucky.

The Amherst Fire Department did not have enough qualified firefighters on hand to handle a fire of this scale. One engine with four firefighters was the only team available when the call came in at 8:19 p.m. Firefighters from more than 30 communities in four counties joined the battle.

A fire department, like

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