State Fire Marshal: Spring Into Safety

STOW, Mass. — With daylight saving time beginning this weekend, State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine is reminding residents to check their smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms when they change their clocks.

"Smoke and CO alarms save lives, but only if they're working properly," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "As we spring forward this weekend, remember to check your alarms when you change your clocks. The manufacturing date is printed on the back of the device, so take a look and replace any alarms that have gone out of date. And unless you have newer alarms with sealed, long-life batteries, this is a great time to replace the alkaline batteries in all your alarms."

Smoke and CO alarms are like any other appliance – they don't last forever. Smoke alarms need to be replaced after 10 years, and carbon monoxide alarms need to be replaced after 5, 7, or 10 years, depending on the make and model. If your alarm is out of date, or if there's no date at all, it's time to replace it. Outdated alarms may not offer the life-saving protection that every household needs.

Most Fire Deaths Take Place at Home Overnight

Of the 44 fire deaths in Massachusetts last year, 90 percent took place in residential settings – and 28 of these took place in the overnight and early morning hours.

"Most fire deaths take place at home and they're most common when we're sleeping," State Fire Marshal Davine said. "Tragically, we see this fact pattern play out again and again, especially with seniors in homes without working smoke alarms. Smoke alarms should be on the ceiling of each bedroom and in the hallway outside so you can hear the beep where you sleep."

Older Adults at Greatest Risk

More than half of last year's residential fire deaths involved adults aged 65 and older. State Fire Marshal Davine asked residents to check in on older relatives, friends, and neighbors who may need help installing, testing, or replacing their alarms. Seniors can also contact their local fire department, council on aging, or senior center for assistance: Department of Fire Services' Senior SAFE grant program awarded nearly half a million dollars to fire departments across Massachusetts last year to support assistance with alarm installation and testing.

Replacing an out-of-date alarm?

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Safety Code requires replacement battery-operated smoke alarms in older one- and two-family homes to have sealed, long-life batteries and a hush feature. These alarms are easier to maintain and less likely to be disabled while cooking or by someone using the batteries for other household appliances.

Alarms that meet UL Standard 217, 8th Edition or later, use the latest multi-criteria detection technology to prevent alarms caused by cooking smoke. Fire officials recommend choosing these alarms to reduce nuisance alarms – and the risk that a user will disable the alarm after burning food in the oven.

"Disabling a smoke alarm puts you and everyone in your building at risk," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "Never remove the batteries from a smoke alarm until it's time to replace them or the alarm itself."

Fire officials recommend that you choose alarms from a well-known, national brand. Look for the mark of an independent testing laboratory such as UL or Intertek. Many Massachusetts fire departments have found alarms purchased on Amazon and other online retailers that do not meet the Fire Code – and may not perform when they're needed most.

"If the price seems too good to be true, then it probably is," said State Fire Marshal Davine.

Carbon Monoxide Hazards

Heating equipment is the leading source of carbon monoxide at home, State Fire Marshal Davine said, but CO remains a hazard even in warmer weather. While many carbon monoxide incidents involve furnaces and other heating appliances, CO is also produced by stoves, grills, and vehicles, as well as generators put into use during a power outage.

"Massachusetts firefighters report detecting carbon monoxide at about 5,000 calls each year," the Marshal said. "We can't see, smell, or taste carbon monoxide. Working CO alarms are the only way to detect this silent, invisible killer. Please be sure you have them in place at home. If you hear them sounding, get out to fresh air right away and call 9-1-1 for help."

Community Meeting Addresses Prejudice in Pittsfield Schools

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:49PM / Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Johanna Lenski, a special education surrogate parent and advocate, says there's a 'deeply troubling' professional culture at Herberg that lets discriminatory actions and language slip by.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Around 60 community members gathered at Conte Community School on Monday night to discuss issues with prejudice in the district. 

The event was hosted by the Pittsfield Public Schools in partnership with the Berkshire NAACP and the Westside Legends. It began with breaking bread in the school's cafeteria, and caregivers then expressed fears about children's safety due to bullying, a lack of support for children who need it the most, and teachers using discriminatory and racist language. 

"One thing I've learned is that as we try to improve, things look really bad because we're being open about ways that we're trying to improve, and I think it's really important that we acknowledge that," interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said, reflecting on her work in several other districts before coming to PPS last summer.  

"It is very easy to stay at the surface and try to look really good, and it may look like others are better than us, when they're really just doing a better job of just kind of maintaining the status quo and sweeping things under the carpet."

Brett Random, the executive director of Berkshire County Head Start, wrote on her personal Facebook page that her daughter reported her math teacher, "used extremely offensive language including both a racial slur (n-word) and a homophobic slur (f-word) and then reportedly tried to push other students to repeat those words later in the day when students were questioning her on her behavior."

The school department confirmed that an eighth-grade teacher at the middle school was placed on leave.  

The Berkshire Eagle, which first reported on the incident, identified the teacher as Rebecca Nitsche, and the teacher told the paper over the phone, "All I can tell you is it's not how it appears." Nitsche told the paper she repeated the words a student used while reporting the incident to another teacher because officials needed to know it happened. 

Johanna Lenski, speaking as a special education surrogate parent and parent advocate, on Monday said there is a "deeply troubling" professional culture at Herberg that has allowed discriminatory, racist, non-inclusive, and ableist treatment of students.

She said a Black transgender student was called a "piss poor, punk, puke of a kid," and repeatedly and intentionally misgendered by one of the school's teachers, and then wrongfully accused of physically assaulting that teacher, which resulted in a 10-day suspension. 

Another Herberg student with disabilities said the same staff member disclosed to an entire classroom that they lived in a group home and were in state Department of Children and Families' custody. When the teacher was asked to come to an individualized education program meeting for that student, Lenski said he "spent approximately 20 minutes attacking this child's character and portraying her as a problem, rather than a student in need of services and protection and support."