Benefit spaghetti supper forthe Labbee family at the Adams Elks Lodge on Friday May 7th from 4pm through 8:30pm.

As you know Dana Labbee, who is a member of the Adams Fire Department who recently lost his 18year old son to a mva last Thursday morning. His problems have not stopped there as he is a contractor who has limited work right now and he was previously injured on the job where he needs reconstructive elbow surgery. To make matters worse his mother has terminal cancer so he has been making trips back and forth to the Cape to help her out. The Adams Fire Department will be putting on a benefit spaghetti supper for his family at the Adams Elks Lodge on Friday May 7th from 4pm through 8:30pm.Tickets are $7.00 ea and we will also be collecting donations for a raffle/chinese auction.Tickets can be obtained by contacting Tom Romaniak at 329-6013, Tony Piscioneri at 652-2203, Officer Greg Charon at 281-7716 or basically through any of the other fire dept.members and at the door

Application Period for National Fire Academy Opens April 15

The application period for the first semester of FY2011 at the National Fire Academy (NFA) will be open from April 15 to June 15. NFA courses and course-materials are free, and transportation and lodging for students who represent career or volunteer fire departments, rescue squads, or state/local governments attending on-campus courses are currently provided as part of funding under the student stipend reimbursement program. The first semester includes classes that begin October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. Learn more and apply at www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa.

4 escape blaze

Updated: 04/08/2010 11:45:50 PM EDT


Deputy Fire Chief Alan Sparks looks over the remains of the... (Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff)


LEE -- An intense, early morning fire on Thursday gutted a two-family home, sending four people to the hospital -- three of whom escaped through second-story windows. An electrical problem sparked the fire.

The blaze at 183 Center St. broke out around 4 a.m. with the first floor engulfed in flames and spreading fast, according Raghav Pathak, one of the residents. The 16-year-old was asleep in his second-floor bedroom when he discovered the duplex was on fire.

"I woke up and smelled something and saw flames shooting from the house," said Raghav. "I was scared as the flames would reach up and get me."

Raghav then called 911 to report the fire and his parents who were at work. He said the smoke was so thick he and two family members who were home at the time couldn’t reach the first floor to escape.

Pathak eventually got himself, his sister Ritika Pathak, 10, and grandfather, Dhavampal Pathak, 74, visiting from India, to flee the raging fire with the help of Lee firefighters who put up a ladder to the second floor.

Lee Fire Chief Ronald Driscoll said the girl and elderly man were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield and treated for smoke inhalation. Pathak said his father, Navneet Pathak, 45, was also transported to BMC for a burn to his arm he suffered trying to get his family out of the house.

The other tenant, Rosio Chevez, 57, who also escaped via the second floor,



was sent to BMC complaining of chest pains, Driscoll said.
Dhavampal Pathak is listed in stable condition, hospital officials said, while the other three fire victims were treated and released.

Local fire officials and an investigator with the state Fire Marshal’s Office spent the sifting through the charred remains and Driscoll said they determined the cause to be an electrical problem in the Pathaks’ kitchen area.

The house’s owner and brother-in-law of the Pathaks, Anup Sangar of Lee, said the building was insured, but he didn’t have a cost estimate of the damage and he was unsure if the building was beyond repair.

Sangar said the five Pathak family members will stay with him for now at his home off Tyringham Road, while he expected Chevez to stay with either friends or relatives.

Lenox and Tyringham fire departments provided mutual aid and in all 30 firefighters quickly doused the smoke and flames.

"The guys did a very good job" fighting fire, Driscoll said.

To reach Dick Lindsay:
rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com,
or (413) 496-6233.

House destroyed in Williamstown fire

By Meghan Foley
Posted: 04/08/2010 01:58:30 AM EDT


Firefighters battle a fire that consumed a house at the top... (Photo taken by Meghan Foley/North Adams Transcript)«1»Thursday April 8, 2010
North Adams Transcript

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Firefighters and forest wardens from six communities struggled late Wednesday afternoon into the evening to extinguish a structure and brush fire at the top of Pine Cobble Road.

Fire Chief Craig A. Pedercini said firefighters received a call at about 4:39 p.m. reporting a structure fire on Pine Cobble Road, and upon arrival, about 50 percent a house under construction was burning.

"Within minutes it had accelerated to the house being fully involved," he said.

No one was injured in the fire, Pedercini said.

The three-story house across the street from 495 Pine Cobble Road was being built for Peter Pedroni and his family by contractor Ron Baldwin.

Pedroni, an associate professor of economics at Williams College, purchased the property in October 2009 from Williams College President and Trustees.

"It’s devastating," Pedroni said, as he watched firefighters soak the last of the charred rubble.

Neighbor Greg Karabinos, 17, said Pedroni was excited to see the house being built, and it’s sad something like this happened.

Another neighbor, Haley Mahar, 16, called 911 after she saw smoke coming out a front window of the house.

"I just looked out the window and saw smoke coming through the front window. I thought it was dust or dirt at first, but then it got bigger, and I saw flames so I called 911," she said.

The cause of the fire is


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under investigation, Pedercini said.
As firefighters fought the blaze, flames quickly spread to the woods behind the house.

"The wind basically aired the fire, and it took the house before moving to the backside of the property and up the north slope of the mountain," Pedercini said.

The brush fire then moved southeast toward the area of the Pine Cobble Trail before turning northwest when the wind changed direction, he said.

Flames came close to a nearby water tower, but firefighters were able to knock them down before they damaged any equipment.

The Williamstown and Adams Forest Wardens were called in to assist as well as fire departments from Pownal, Vt., Clarksburg, Florida and Lanesborough.

While a staging area was set up on Pine Cobble Road, most firefighters fought the fire from a second staging area up the hill at the water tower.

Butch Garrity, Berkshire County fire coordinator, said the conditions Wednesday made it a "red flag day" meaning the likelihood of forest fires was high.

"You get weather like this, and a fire can grow by 27 times a minute," he said.

By about 8:30 p.m., the brush fire had been extinguished, and Williamstown Forest Warden Richard F. Daniels Jr. planned to return to the area Thursday morning with his crew to "mop up" any areas where the fire may still be smoldering, Pedercini said.

He said they will be joined by the Adams Forest Wardens, and small crews from Lanesborough, New Ashford and Clarksburg.

While firefighters haven’t been able to assess the size of the brush fire, Pedercini estimates it burned 20 to 30 acres.

"It was all caused by the structure fire," he said.

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

The application period for MCVFA's 2010 Texas A&M Fire School Grants is now open.

The Texas A&M Fire School is one of the premiere fire schools in the country. Each year, the MCVFA offers grants to send four (4) members to the Municipal Fire School, a one-week course at the College Station, Texas university.

Applications for the four training grants for the 2010 Municipal Fire School are being accepted from March 15, 2010, until April 30, 2010. The MCVFA Training Committee will award the four grants no later than May 15, 2010.

The Municipal Fire School offers over 40 courses during the one week session. Courses available range from Executive Fire Officer to live fire training, FF/3, FF/4, and FF/5, hose handling, ropes, rescue, confined space, auto extrication, etc.

For more information on the program, see the Texas A&M Fire School Annual Schools site.



Training Grant Information


Texas A&M Municipal Fire School
College Station, Texas


July 25, thru July 31, 2010



Four Training Grants for the 2010 Municipal Fire School at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, will be opened for applications from March 15, 2010 until April 30, 2010. The four grants will be awarded no later than May 15, 2010 by the MCVFA Training Committee.

The Municipal Fire School offers 40 plus courses that are available during the week of the school. Courses range from Executive Officers courses to live fire training FF/3, FF/4, FF/5, hose, ropes, rescue, confined space, auto extrication, etc. For course information go to http://teex.com and look under Municipal Fire School.

MCVFA Training Grants will provide full expenses for FOUR (4) members, who meet the following criteria:

1. Must be a paid up member of MCVFA for the last TWO (2) years
2. Must be 21 years of age with a valid Mass Drivers License
3. Must be an active member of your Fire department (firefighter or officer)
4. Must be FF 1/2 Certified or be grandfathered and signed off by your Chief.


The Training Grant will provide each of the four selected applicants the following:


1. Round trip airline tickets from your nearest airport to Houston International or College Station, TX, whichever is available at the time
2. One group rental car for the week, College Station is 2 hours from Houston
3. Two double motel rooms for 7 nights in College Station or (Houston, Friday only)
4. Each participant will receive a $400.00 stipend for food (8 days at $50 per day)
5. Total tuition for each participant ($450/ea) will be paid by MCVFA
6. Any miscellaneous expenses up to $100 incurred by any participant


Download application here. Applications must be received no later than 1800 hours on April 30, 2010 and should be sent to: MCVFA, P.O. Box 2163, Teaticket, MA 02563. Attention: Training Committee.


Any questions contact www: training@mcvfa.org

Short Range Fire Weather

FOR IMMEDIATE CIRCULATION:

DISCUSSION...
THERE IS AN ELEVATED RISK FOR FIRE SPREAD ACROSS MOST OF MASSACHUSETTS
THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH WEDNESDAY. MINIMUM AFTERNOON RELATIVE
HUMIDITIES WILL DROP TO BETWEEN 20 AND 30 PERCENT COMBINED WITH POTENTIAL
DRY SOUTHERLY WIND GUSTS TO 25 MPH. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CAUSE VERY LOW
FUEL MOISTURES IN ALL DEAD OR DORMANT LIGHT SURFACE FUELS AND RESULT IN AN
ELEVATED RISK OF ACTIVE AND/OR DANGEROUS FIRE BEHAVIOR.

EASTERN FRANKLIN, HAMPSHIRE, HAMDEN COUNTIES COULD SEE RELATIVE
HUMIDITIES DROP BELOW 20% DURING THE AFTERNOON PERIODS CAUSING RAPID
DRYING IN LIGHT SURFACE FUELS AND LEADING TO POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
FIRE BEHAVIOR.


OUTLOOK...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

DRY AND UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. THE
HIGHEST TEMPERATURES WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE INTERIOR WITH COOLER
TEMPERATURES ALONG THE IMMEDIATE SOUTH COAST. THE HIGHEST CONCERN
FOR FIRE SPREAD WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY WHEN HIGHS REACH INTO THE 80S
AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH ARE FORECAST. MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES
WILL DROP BETWEEN 20 AND 30 PERCENT. INCREASING CHANCES OF RAIN
FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND.