Fire Forces Family From Williamstown Home

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North County Responders Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary

North County Responders Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary

North Adams Ambulance To Service Readsboro

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Two Barns And Hauler Destroyed In Williamstown Fire

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CLARKSBURG RESCUE DRILL FOCUSES ON FIRE ESCAPE PLAN

With the help of the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department,... (Gillian Jones/North Adams Transcript)Transcript Correspondent

By Susan Bush
Posted: 06/21/2011 02:28:33 AM EDT



CLARKSBURG -- A thick, smoky cloud engulfed Lyza Licht, 9, and the sounds of crackling flames and a shrill smoke alarm echoed as she crouched beneath a desk. The girl described her feelings as she waited for help: "I was like, ‘I want to be rescued,’ " Lyza said.

Lyza was one of 14 Clarksburg junior and brownie Girl Scouts who participated in Saturday’s realistic fire/rescue drill held at Robert and Sheri Goodell’s home at 822 Middle Rd. Robert Goodell is a town volunteer firefighter and Sheri Goodell is a Girl Scout volunteer. The drill was led by the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department. Sheri Goodell volunteers with a total of 17 scouts, she said.

The two-hour exercise focused on escape-route planning. Town Fire Chief Carlyle "Chip" Chesbro led a discussion about escape-route planning and additional safety factors. During the presentation, girls in the third, fifth and sixth grade studied floor plans and plotted three escape routes from a bedroom. Establishing multiple routes is important, Chesbro said, because flames may block hallways, doorways or other areas. If only one escape is planned and practiced, confusion may erupt if that route is blocked during an actual fire, he explained. Two planned routes utilized hallways and doors, while the third route involved climbing from a first-floor window.

During the practical sessions, each girl tackled each escape route.


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Even with the aid of firefighters and a chain ladder, many participants learned the challenges of trying to escape through a window. As part of the program, firefighters entered the fog-filled home wearing full gear including breathing equipment and oxygen masks, so that the youngsters could see what a firefighter looks like coming through a dark, dense atmosphere and familiarize themselves with the sounds of the air packs.
"You couldn’t see anything," Readsboro Vt., resident Elyssa Fink, 10, said of the experience. "You didn’t know what was going to happen next." She is the only scout not from Clarksburg.

Chesbro instructed the scouts that once they have exited a burning building, they should go immediately to a pre-arranged meeting place and remain there.

"Once you are out, you stay out," he said. "Most people who are hurt in fires are would-be rescuers, people who went back in."

At the sound of an activated smoke alarm, folks should roll out of bed, crawl on the floor to the door and use the back of a hand to check for heat. If the door is cool, slowly open it while holding onto it as a way to maintain a sense of location, Chesbro said. If it is safe, proceed to your planned and practiced escape route, he said.

"Call out for mom and dad, but keep going even if they do not answer," he said.

Some homes are equipped with safety ladders to help with an escape from upper-level windows. But what if there is no ladder or the person is too frightened to attempt an escape?

"Do not hide," Chesbro said. "Open a window and make noise, yell, scream, throw toys, anything to alert someone to your whereabouts."

Molly Wojnicki, 9, and Emily McClain, 10, said they were glad they’d participated.

"If you don’t know how to escape a fire, you could die," Molly said.

"It was a little scary, especially trying to get out the window, but if there was a real fire, I could do it," Emily said.

Sheri Goodell said that the event will help the Brownies earn a "Try-It" award and help the junior-level scouts earn a "Safety First" badge. The exercise honed a scouting motto of "courage, confidence and character," she added.

Two North Adams Ambulance Service members assisted with the drill. A machine generated the vapor-based fog and a sound effect created the burning noises.

New chief waited for his chance

Goyette, a lifelong resident of Adams, has bee a health and physical education teacher in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District for the past 26 years. He said that he first got his start with the Alert Hose Company in 1979 as an apprentice -- then known as a sub -- because his uncle Ernest Bissaillon was a long-time member. He eventually became a full fledged volunteer firefighter when he went to college in Slippery Rock, Pa. (ADAMS -- With the retirement of Fire Chief Stephen Brown, Paul Goyette was elected to replace him earlier this week and said on Friday that he looks forward to running the Adams Fire Department.)
By Ryan Hutton
Posted: 05/21/2011 10:47:52 AM EDT



ADAMS -- With the retirement of Fire Chief Stephen Brown, Paul Goyette was elected to replace him earlier this week and said on Friday that he looks forward to running the Adams Fire Department.

Goyette, a lifelong resident of Adams, has bee a health and physical education teacher in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District for the past 26 years. He said that he first got his start with the Alert Hose Company in 1979 as an apprentice -- then known as a sub -- because his uncle Ernest Bissaillon was a long-time member. He eventually became a full fledged volunteer firefighter when he went to college in Slippery Rock, Pa.

"I met up with a couple guys, college students, who were on the local fire department and that was the real start," he said. "Kind of like how Williamstown has college students on the fire department, that’s what we did. When I got back from school, my uncle being a member and the tradition of the Alerts was something I wanted to be a part of and give back to the community."

Goyette became a full-time member of the Alerts in March 1983 and when former Chief Stephen Brown took over 15 years ago, Goyette became his fourth assistant and an engineer with the Adams Fire District. Over the next decade and a half, Goyette rose through the ranks from firefighter to second assistant foreman to first assistant foreman and then foreman behind Brown.

"I wanted to accomplish more,"


Goyette said. "I wanted to be able to not only learn in my fire fighter role but I also wanted to start working with command. Work more with why the fire starts and the techniques to put it out. We also do much more than put out fires and I wanted to learn all of that, too. It was a progression for me."
Goyette said working with Brown was beneficial and he thanked the former chief for allowing him to learn and experiment while in the department.

"There’s no question that between [Brown] and Billy Chittenden, they really brought this department to another level," he said. "Steve is extremely meticulous and detail oriented and I hope to emulate a little bit of that on both the fire side of it and the administrate side.

"It may have made a few people upset with him through out his 15 years as chief, but it was because he did it right. He put a lot of time in down here."

Goyette said he does have a few new ideas he wants to try but added that any changes to the department are not a comment to the way Brown ran things -- he just feels that any chief wants to put his or her own stamp on a department.

"We’re going to stay status quo for a while and then ease into a few changes," he said. "Just subtle things. Nothing drastic. [Brown] set the ground rules and the standards and I agree with them. There’s some little tweaks I want to do to put my stamp on things, but not yet."

Goyette said the Adams Fire Department and Alert Hose Company are well-oiled machines, adding that the forefathers of both took the time to organize them well.

"I’m looking forward to working with the members but the bottom line is that after every call, I want everyone to go home safe," he said.

Car leaves road, sets house ablaze in Sunday accident

By Meghan Foley
Posted: 05/17/2011 01:06:35 AM EDT


North Adams Transcript

WILLIAMSTOWN -- A Pittsfield man is in stable condition after the 2002 Dodge Caravan he was driving crashed into a house on New Ashford Road (Route 7) and caught fire late Sunday night
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