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A fire gutted home on High Street in Dalton on Monday afternoon.
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Dalton Fire Damages Home on High Street

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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UPDATED Oct. 12 at 8:56 p.m.—The Fire Marshal determined that the cause of the fire was "careless disposal of smoking materials." 
 
DALTON, Mass. — It took more than hour on Monday for firefighters to knock down a blaze that engulfed a large portion of a home at 177 High St.
 
A neighbor reported the fire in the two-story home around 4:30 p.m.
 
Interim Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said firefighters arrived to find flames extending up the front of the house and into the eaves and the attic. An image posted on Facebook shows the porch section of the building fully involved.
 
One person was treated by the local emergency medical services for smoke inhalation but was not take to the hospital, said Czerwinski. No firefighters were injured.
 
The road from Field Street to Glennon Avenue was closed as firefighters battled the blaze.
 
The home is more than 100 years old and had a lot of void spaces that the blaze could travel, Czerwinski said.  
 
At the time of the interview, the department was waiting on scene for the State Fire Marshal investigator to help determine the cause and origin of the blaze. 
 
Responding to the fire were the Hinsdale and Pittsfield fire departments. Pittsfield provided a ladder truck. Cheshire Fire Department was standing by as a rapid intervention team. The Lanesborough Fire Department covered the town during the incident. 

Tags: structure fire,   

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Pittsfield Council OKs $3M Borrowing for Failing PHS Boilers

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council has authorized the borrowing of $3 million for new boilers at Pittsfield High School — a project that was originally going to be funded by ARPA.

The nearly 100-year-old boilers are original to the building and have exceeded their useful life, officials say. They are converted locomotive engines that are extremely inefficient and expensive to maintain.

The replacement design was recently completed and a low bid was received. After looking at the numbers, it was clear that the allocated $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds would not be enough.

"$213,210 was spent on emergency repairs and the design work for the replacement project," Finance Director Matthew Kerwood confirmed in an email.
 
"The low and only bid for the replacement was $2,482,000, however given the complexity of this project I felt that a 20 percent contingency would be needed which gets to the $3,000,000 authorization. If the entire amount is not needed, the remaining unused balance will be rescinded at some point in the future."

The project is also time-sensitive, as one boiler is non-operational and another is severely compromised. If they fail during the heating season, the school will have to close.

"The contractor that was the low bid, in 30 days he can walk away from that bid if he wants to, and the other problem is I need to get this project underway to hopefully get them in and running by the time school reopens up for wintertime," Building Maintenance Director Brian Filiault explained.

"This is a major project, a major project. We're taking three locomotives out of that building and it's no easy thing. I mean, the building is built around it and we have a small portal that we actually will be able to get it out, we'll have to crane everything else. It's a very labor-intensive, very hard job, and I'm afraid of the timeframe because I can't run those boilers again. They've gone as far as they're going to go."

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