Fire at Vacant Adams Mill Under Investigation

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ADAMS, Mass. — Officials from the State Fire Marshal's office reported that the structure fire at the old MacDermid Graphics building remains under investigation.
 
"The investigation is still open, and given the scope of the damage it may take a while," said Jake Wark from the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
 
A large fire broke out Wednesday morning around 7:30 a.m. at the old MacDermid Graphics building, drawing a massive response from fire companies across the region, forcing school closures and prompting a large firefighting effort to contain the blaze at the vacant mill.
 
The Adams Fire Department later reported that firefighters fought the blaze for 12 1/2 hours, finally clearing Harmony Street around 6 p.m.
 
Approximately 22 agencies and 100 responders assisted at the scene after a second alarm was requested.
 
No firefighters were injured.
 
During the fire, an alert was sent out cautioning residents with breathing issues to shelter in place due to potentially toxic materials burning in the building. Adams Fire officials reported that the state Hazmat Team did respond.
 
"Our State Hazmat Team responded and continued to monitor the scene and assured us the only readings they were getting were right near the fire," the Adams Fire Department reported.
 
The Adams Fire Department thanked support units from the state and region, as well as local businesses that supplied fuel and food, including Rowley Fuel, Pizza House and Angelina's.

Tags: structure fire,   

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Hoosac Valley Seeks to Prevent 'Volatile' Assessments

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass.— The "volatile" shifts in Hoosac Valley Regional School District's town assessments year to year is hard for smaller towns to absorb; however, a proposed change to the regional agreement would fix that. 
 
During the Select Board meeting last week, Superintendent Aaron Dean presented the proposed change to the regional agreement that would set assessments based on a five-year rolling average rather than the annual student enrollment.
 
"The long-term goal is to make the assessment process a little bit more viable for people from year-to-year," he said. 
 
An ad hoc committee was convened to review the district's agreement, during which concerns arose about the rapid fluctuations in assessments.
 
"I think you have to look short term, and you have to look long term. The goal is to kind of level it off and make planning easier and flatten that curve in terms of how it's going to impact both communities," Dean said. 
 
Every year, it is a little more difficult for one community because they are feeling disproportionately impacted compared to the other, he said. 
 
"The transient nature of this population right now is like nothing I've ever seen," Dean said. 
 
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