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Williamstown Fire Destroys Garage
Firefighters contain a structure fire on Hancock Road on Thursday afternoon. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A fire destroyed a large garage at 1352 Hancock Road on Thursday afternoon.
Numerous firefighters from several fire departments aided Williamstown fire crews in preventing the blaze from spreading.
The fire began sometime after noon. Hancock also responded to the scene as did Pownal and Pownal Valley fire departments from Vermont; Clarksburg Fire Department covered the station. Lanesborough firefighters were also at the scene.
No one was injured but equipment inside the metal garage was destroyed. According to documents in the Registry of Deeds, the property is owned by Michael Patten. The cause was under investigation.
North Adams Woman, Son Arrested on Drug Charges
Glendalis Rios |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A local woman and her teenage son were arrested on numerous drug and firearms charges on Monday, according to police.
City and state police and members of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at a Porter Street address at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, seizing more than 650 bags of heroin and $16,406 in cash. Also found were two handguns, a .38 and a .22 caliber revolver.
Glendalis Rios, 32, and her 16-year-old son were arraigned Tuesday in Northern Berkshire District Court.
Rios was charged with conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act, inducing minor to distribute a drug, and knowingly being present where heroin is kept.
Her son, who attends Drury High, was charged with possession to distribute a Class A drug (heroin), two counts of possessing a firearm without a firearms identification card (one count for each gun), two counts of improperly storing a handgun near a minor, possession of ammunition without an FID card and conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act.
Dalton Woman Injured After Being Trapped in Burning House
DALTON, Mass. — A local woman was injured after being trapped on the second floor of a burning home early Sunday evening.
Firefighters were able to extricate her and she was taken to Berkshire Medical Center. Fire Chief Gerald J. Cahalan Jr. said she was transferred to another facility from there but did not know where.
Her condition was unknown, other than she was alive; her name has not been released.
Cahalan said he was first on the scene at 62 Jennings Ave. and attempted to enter the front door but was forced back by heavy flames in the stairwell.
"I was notified by a neighbor that there maybe somebody possibly trapped in the house," he said late Sunday night. A member of the family that owns the house tried to access the back door but Cahalan stopped him.
"I figured once you opened the back door you were going to get a flash," he said.
The two-alarm fire was reported at about 7:12 p.m. at the 2 1/2 story home. Cahalan said firefighters responded quickly and knocked down the fire but it flared up again about 20 minutes later.
Smoke and flames could be seen coming from the second story at that point. Firefighters were attacking the blaze with ladders and hoses.
They first focused on extinguishing the fire and the stairwell and search for the victim. She was taken through a second story window and placed in an ambulance. One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation after the rescue.
The victim was the only one in the house at the time.
The second alarm automatically called in mutual aid from Hinsdale and Windsor, the chief said. Hinsdale brings its rehab trailer and Lanesborough was called in to cover the station; a third alarm brings in Pittsfield.
Cahalan said the cause of the fire is under investigation. State police and representatives from the state fire marshal's office were still at the scene at midnight.
Cahalan thought the single-family home was salvageable.
"The response was great, the crews did a great job," he said. "Obviously, the house is standing."