Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Green funds pegged for new Great Barrington fire station

By Derek Gentile, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Posted: 02/10/2009 02:57:40 AM EST

Tuesday, February 10
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Selectmen last night gave their collective blessing to a request by the town's Fire Station Building Committee to commit a total of $43,333 in Clean Energy Choice Funds to the fire station construction project.

The board also commended the committee for its work. According to committee co-chairman Richard T. Coons, the project is now slated for completion by September — two months ahead of schedule.

"You folks are doing a good job out there," said Selectman Chairman Walter F. Atwood III. "You've got it under control."

Coons explained that the town is eligible for the $43,333 return because a number of town residents agreed to allow $1 of their monthly electric bill to be allocated to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Choice program. The money turned over to that fund can be accessed by the town for a "clean energy" project.

Photovoltaic panels

In Great Barrington's case, said Coons, the town plans to install a total of 36 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the fire station to generate solar energy. The photovoltaic array is expected to generate about 10 kilowatts per day.

The roof of the station was especially designed to handle the weight of the panels, he said.

Rebate

In addition, said Coons, the town is eligible for a rebate of $41,500, made available through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the state's Solar Rebate Program.

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Coons estimated that installing the system will cost about $115,344. The $41,500 rebate and the $43,333 reallocation will knock the overall cost of the installation to about $30,511.

Coons added that the present reallocation is listed as $43,333 as of September 2008. He said that he believes there may well be more money coming to the town by now, which in turn would mean more savings.

The photovoltaic setup will save the town about $1,800 annually, said Coons.

The annual electrical costs for the structure are expected to be about $12,000 annually, with the savings factored in, said Coons.

Approved in 2007

Town voters approved $9 million to construct the new station on Stockbridge Road in 2007.

Although there were concerns in some corners about completing the project on time and under budget, the Selectmen said last night that they are pleased with the work to date.

Selectman Ronald Dlugos lauded Coons and the town for their efforts.

He pointed out that when the fire station was being designed, one of the favorable aspects of the present site on Stockbridge Road was its favorable exposure to sunlight.

Rail service

In other business, the board expressed their support of a potential plan to expand rail service from the Berkshires to New York City, a stance taken earlier by the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce.

Derek Gentile can be reached at dgentile@berkshireeagle.com or at (413) 528-3660.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Fireman's delight at ball




By Meghan Foley, North Adams Transcript
Posted: 02/09/2009 11:31:12 AM EST

Monday, February 9
ADAMS -- Firefighters representing eight towns and two cities in Berkshire County, Vermont and New Hampshire gathered at the Bounti-Fare Restaurant Saturday night for the 132nd annual Alert Hose Company Ball.

"It's great to see guys out with their wives and significant others because we usually see each other in situations that are not so great," Willie Parmenter, chairman of the ball committee and a volunteer firefighter with the Alert Hose Company in Adams, said.

Adams Fire Chief Stephen Brown agreed.

"It's good time to get together, and we enjoy having other departments join us. A lot of times you'll see other departments under different conditions, and it's a good time to relax," he said.

One hundred eighty-six firefighters -- and their family members, police officers, emergency medical technicians and community members filled the restaurant's banquet hall beginning at 7 p.m. for dinner followed by the traditional grand march at 8:45 p.m. and then dancing until 12:30 a.m. The firefighters came from Adams, Cheshire, North Adams, Florida, Williamstown, Clarksburg, Windsor, Pittsfield, Stamford, Vt. and Effingham, N.H.

Joe Dean, a firefighter with the Alert Hose Company and Adams Selectman, said the company has been able to keep the ball going each year primarily with fundraising.

To many firefighters including Tom Francesconi, fire chief for the Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department, the ball
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is about brotherhood and the camaraderie among them.

"It doesn't matter what department you're from, we're all doing the same job," Francesconi said.

Jason Mendonca, assistant chief for the Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department, said the department has been coming to the Alert Hose Company's ball for years.

"It's kind of a tradition. It's something where they have come to our ball, and we have come to their ball," he said. "It was passed on from the firefighters before us."

The Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department plans to host their 110th ball in May.

Craig A. Pedercini, fire chief for the Williamstown Fire District, said the firemen's ball is a tradition, and a traditions is something that firefighters have to continue to carry out.

"I think it's great for all the chiefs to get together, and the fireman to get together, and the chiefs to get together with the firemen," he said.

Pittsfield Fire Chief James Sullivan said most of the larger fire departments, including Pittsfield, have firemen's balls for everybody to get together and mark another year of the fire service.

He said he has been coming to the Alert Hose Company ball for at least 10 years to show his support for them.

"People don't appreciate the value of their volunteer fire departments. These guys do their job 24/7 at no cost. They're there 110 percent of the time, and I respect them for it," he said.

Dean said many of the volunteer firefighters at the ball, including those from Alert Hose Company, are not off-duty and some responded to two emergency calls in Adams Saturday with one -- a diesel spill -- an hour before the event.

"Fortunately the two calls we had were fairly minor," Brown said.

He said a couple firefighters from the Alert Hose Company had their gear with them at the ball so if there was an emergency they could change quickly and go to the call.

Parmenter said the big part of the ball was not only to recognize local firefighters, but also their families.

Pam Capeless, whose husband, Ed, is a foreman with the Alert Hose Company, said firemen's wives never know when their husbands are going to get called to an emergency, and when they do, the wives just take over until their husbands return.

"When they get a call it breaks up everything, and you just have to take over where they left off just until they get back, and then life goes on," she said.

She said when firefighters get pager calls many wives will listen to their scanners and sometimes go down to the emergency -- like the house fire on First Street in Adams in December 2008 -- to make sure things are OK.

"At lot of wives go to a call. It's about a together-as-one-thing," she said.

Barbara Breda-Bolte, whose husband, Juan Bolte, is a firefighter in North Adams, said at times being the wife of a fireman can be stressful not knowing what emergency calls the department will have to respond to each day.

"It's like with every other job, you hope for the best -- and a good day with no fires," she said.

Brown said he began coming to the Alert Hose Company ball 38 years ago when they were held at the Adams Armory, and while the dress is still semi-formal, it's a step down from what it use to be.

"Adams had a strictly formal ball. It was dress uniform for fire and police officers and military personnel. The ladies were all in their gowns, and if you didn't belong to the police, fire or military, you had to wear a tuxedo," he said.

Mike Gleason, captain of the Florida Volunteer Fire Department, said for the 10 years he has been coming to the ball, it hasn't changed much.

"There is camaraderie between the firefighters, and getting together is just a lot of fun," he said, as he waited with fellow Florida firefighters for the grand march to begin.

Firefighters and their spouses walked from the bar and restaurant area at Bounti-Fare into the banquet hall to the tune of a "Grand Old Flag" followed by "The Army Goes Rolling Along" and then "The Star-Spangled Banner" performed by Phil 'n the Blanks.

Michael Roberts is a second generation firefighter and a member of the North Adams Fire Department for 28 years. He said this was his first Alert Hose Company ball.

"A bunch of us got together and decided we would like to attend. It turned out to be a very nice night," he said.

He said what makes the ball special is the idea of getting together with friends and co-workers from other towns "only because this day and age we all depend on each other with mutual aid."

"As far as I'm concerned, regardless if you're a paid professional or a volunteer, it's a brotherhood," he said.

To reach Meghan Foley, e-mail mfoley@thetranscript.com.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Student video garners award

By Ryan Hutton, North Adams Transcript
Posted: 02/07/2009 02:01:25 PM EST

Saturday, February 7
CHESHIRE -- A group of Hoosac Valley High School students managed to take a dangerous situation and turn it into an award in the state's first Burn Awareness Week YouTube Video Contest.

Students in the school's Fire Life And Emergency Management (FLAME) class took second place in the contest sponsored by the state Department of Fire Services, the Massachusetts Association of Safety and Fire education and the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association.

"It's called 'Hands Off Fireworks,' and it was about leaving fireworks to the pros and not doing it yourself," said FLAME student and HVHS senior Johanna Sutliff. "We had a creative angle to the video. We showed what would happen if you had an accident while playing with fireworks. (Senior) Tony (Leake) was in a wheelchair getting his diploma; we had one person missing the last dance at the prom; you couldn't shake hands, stuff like that."

The state received 18 entries from across the Commonwealth and Hoosac Valley's second-place finish means the nine students involved will get to share $100 in gift cards to Best Buy, Barnes & Noble and Circuit City.

"The whole fireworks concept came up after the Drury/Hoosac football bonfire, when the fireworks went off inside the fire," said sophomore Emily Rodowicz. "That was a big thing so we decided to educate people about the dangers."

Corey McGrath, a FLAME instructor and part of the Cheshire
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Volunteer Fire Department, said the students took the negative of the "stupid act" at the school's bonfire in November and turned it into something positive.

"There was a box of fireworks hidden in the bonfire so we didn't see it when we inspected it. If it had tipped over, they would have shot right into the crowd," he said. "Next year, the fire department is going to be responsible for building and lighting it and then once it's lit, we'll bring everybody up to it. We certainly don't want (the bonfire) to go away."

The video took a week and a half of 48-minute classes to organize, shoot and edit. The students got some help from former Taconic High School teacher Barry Emery with the editing. FLAME student Justin Clairmont's band, Twisting Karma, supplied the music.

"I think it's pretty special," said junior Samantha Rodriguez. "Who'd have thought Hoosac Valley would get that kind of recognition?"

"We thought that, because it was the whole entire state, there would be harder competition," said Rodowicz. "I mean, we're little Adams-Cheshire and it's the whole state of Massachusetts."

Firefighter and FLAME instructor Greta Facchetti said her students worked hard to meet the contest deadline after finding out about it not long before the due date.

"I think it's awesome," she said. "Our students are great and they like taking on projects. It gives them a chance to be creative and personalize their projects. They were creative but handled it in a mature way and they did it almost all by themselves. Second place is awesome, but next year, we're going for first."

Sutliff and Hoosac senior Dakota Baker went to Boston for the award ceremony, where they watched the top six competitors' videos. Sutliff said she wasn't surprised the Hurricanes took second place.

"I think we really deserved it," she said. "The other ones were kind of weak. Theirs were more fact-heavy and we went for a more creative approach."

"I thought it was informational," junior Dylan Grimes said. "I never thought about how much it can affect you. I thought (fireworks) were fun until I saw what could happen. Not being able to embrace a child or having a weird, fake arm."

Other students involved in the project include sophomores Patton Linder, Alex Heideman and Tony Leake.

The FLAME course is entirely paid for by a $665,000 federal grant the Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department received in 2006 called the Staffing for Adequate Funding and Emergency Response grant, which is geared toward the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. A portion of the funds have gone toward the FLAME program and other community outreach activities.

"I think it was awesome," McGrath said. "I'm so proud of them. None of these kids had to do it -- they wanted to, and that says something about them. In the fire service, we see a lot of terrible things and then, every once in a while, something like this happens and it makes it all worth it."

The FLAME course trains student in first responder techniques such as CPR, first aid and the used of AED or Automated External Defibrillators.

"I'm glad I took the class," said Rodriguez. "Now I'm certified in first response. I can help people if something ever happens."

McGrath said in addition to training first responders, the class has also gotten a few kids interested in joining the fire service once they graduate.

"This class is 100 percent funded by that grant and it's worth it," McGrath said. "We will have put 40 certified first responders into the community as of graduation this year. We had 11 last semester and this one has 29. Last year we put out 15, so 55 first responders in two years is good."