Mill buildings burn in overnight blaze - Turners Falls, MA

Mill buildings burn in overnight blaze
Sunday, May 27, 2007By MICHAEL McAULIFFEmmcauliffe@repub.com
MONTAGUE - Firefighters from throughout Western Massachusetts and from as far afield as Brattleboro, Vt., and Winchester, N.H., were called in early yesterday morning to battle a major blaze at the former Strathmore Paper Co. Plant in the village of Turners Falls here.

The cause of the fire, which was brought under control by firefighters from at least 35 fire departments after several hours, is under investigation.

Turners Falls fire Capt. James P. Bartus estimated the blaze caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

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No one was injured in the fire, Bartus said. The Turners Falls Fire Department received the call there was a fire shortly before 3 a.m., he said.

"We could see the fire from the top of the hill here in town," he said. "We could see the glow in the sky."

The fire, in a complex of 11 buildings that is now largely occupied by Western Recycling, destroyed a five-story structure in which were stored rolls of paper, skids of cardboard and large rolls of plastic.

"It overwhelmed the sprinkler system in there, if it was even working," Bartus said.

"We don't know how long it burned before somebody noticed it," he added.

Bartus said last night that while under control, the fire had not yet been extinguished.

"We have a few hot spots popping up," he said.

Fire Capt. David Dion said the owner of Western Recycling, Jerry Jones, had an apartment in the building that was destroyed. Another business in the area, Southworth Paper Co., sustained damage.

Among investigators probing the fire are state police and personnel from the state fire marshal's office.

Firefighters who responded to the blaze came from Agawam, Amherst, Ashburnham, Athol, Bernardston, Brattleboro Vt., Charlemont, Chicopee, Colrain, Deerfield, Easthampton, Erving, Fitchburg, Gill, Greenfield, Holyoke, Leverett, Leyden, Montague Center, Northfield, Northampton, Orange, Petersham, Shelburne, Shelburne Falls, South Deerfield, Southampton, Southwick, Springfield, Sunderland, Wendell, West Springfield, Westfield, Westhampton and Winchester, N.H.

Firefighters from Amherst and Winchester, N.H., also covered the Turners Falls Fire Department during the fire.

Upcoming Events in Northern Berkshire County

Adams Ambulance Service "Open House":

On Wednesday, May 23, the station will hold an Open House to provide additional services to the community. The event will be held at the station, located at 185 Columbia St. in Adams, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Click to read the full story on the Open House:

Adams Ambulance Open House Article on iberkshire.com


FLORIDA VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT "SPRING PANCAKE BREAKFAST":
FLORIDA,MA — The Florida Volunteer Fireman's Association will host its annual spring pancake breakfast on Sunday, May 20, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the fire department's main station on Route 2.
The cost is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and children ages 3-12, free for children under 3. Information: Mike Gleason, 664-9535.


North Adams Ambulance Service sets open house:
http://wwww. TheTranscript. com


NORTH ADAMS — Free food, fun games and a bevy of safety information will all be part of an open house at the North Adams Ambulance Service on Sunday, as the organization celebrates National Emergency Medical Service week.
John Meaney, director of the ambulance service, said the public is encouraged to come to station at 10 Harris St., at the corner of River Street, to join in on the fun. The event runs from 10 to 4.

"We'll also be dedicating a polished granite bench in memory of Barbara Wagner, who was the original founder of the ambulance service in 1977," Meaney said.

Wagner, who died last year, served as the organization' s president from 1978 to 2006. The bench will be dedicated at 2.

Meaney said the open house will feature children's games, including a large "bouncy-bounce, " the Safe House fire prevention truck, the North Adams Police Department's K-9 dogs, a car seat checkpoint, and a cookout with free food. The North Adams Police Department will also have a Triad booth, providing both the File of Life refrigerator magnets and Yellow Dot program information packets



VILLAGE AMBULANCE SERVICE OPEN HOUSE:

The VAS is hosting an May 26 Open House at the Water Street headquarters to celebrate the 25th anniversary. The public is welcome to tour the facility from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the scrapbooks will be available for public viewing, Miller said.

Click to read the full story:

Article on VAS 25th Annversary on iberkshire.com

Cheshire voters to decide rescue-vehicle purchase

From left, Capt. Shawn McGrath, firefighters Shawn Martin and Kim Martin, Capt. Corey McGrath, Capt. Tom Francesconi, firefighter Corey Swistak and Chief George Sweet pose with the department's broken-down rescue truck that they hope to get replaced. Ryan Hutton/North Adams Transcript


Friday, May 4
CHESHIRE — Firefighters are asking voters to approve $165,000 loan over five years at the May 16 town meeting to replace its rescue truck, currently immobile and sitting behind the firehouse.
A few weeks ago, the exhaust literally blew apart on the 21-year-old ambulance that the department uses to shelter accident victims from the elements until a certified ambulance arrives.

"We have a unique setup here because we don't have ambulance service for 15 or 20 minutes out here, and we have to at least stabilize our victims until it gets to the scene," Fire Capt. Fred Balawender, an emergency medical technician, said Thursday at the firehouse. Adams Ambulance Service is usually the closest service available.

The proposed rescue vehicle was designed by the Fire Department's truck committee, beginning with a wish list of features that were slowly whittled away to be more cost effective. Now, according to Capt. Corey McGrath, the department is hoping for a truck that has none of the frills but all of the necessities for modern emergency response.

"We have a unique situation here in Cheshire — we have the lake, we have two recreational trails, we have the


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schools, all with a volunteer department," McGrath said. "We've had accidents on Route 116 where we need to keep the victims out of the elements because we're so far from ambulance response."
The department is not currently licensed to transport victims but the new truck could easily be outfitted to do so for $1,300 extra, said McGrath. That makes sense, he said, because it could cost thousands of dollars to retrofit it in the future.

Town officials have talked positively about purchasing a truck, though some concerns have been raised about the price, which appears on the town warrant as Article 5.

The Board of Selectmen and the Advisory Committee discussed the truck's price tag at Tuesday's board meeting. Selectman Paul Astorino and committee member Joseph Greenbush wondered if a lower price could be had.

"The last time we bought a truck it was cheaper, (but) there have been significant market increases in firefighting apparatus," Capt. Shawn McGrath said. "Everything is twice as much as the last time we had to update equipment."

Selectmen Chairwoman Carol Francesconi agreed Thursday.

"I think that the Fire Department found a truck to best fit its needs," she said. "Yes, there are cheaper models but if it's not going to work for the town then we need to buy what does work for them."

Fire Chief George Sweet said the truck is specifically designed to fit all the needs of the town and will be an investment that lasts decades. The old truck, a 1986 ambulance used in New York state, was purchased for $10,000 by the department out of its own funds, so there was no cost to the town.

"We got it in the mid-1990s and it's been in and out of the shop ever since," Sweet said. "We just can't keep pumping money into that thing."