Fireground: Mt. Tom Road, Northampton

 Highway Auto Salvage, 182 Mt Tom Road, Northampton

Amherst and Easthampton FD units assisted a bevy of Northampton emergency vehicles at the scene of a fire this morning at Highway Auto Salvage about a mile outside of city center.  An NFD ambulance transported one firefighter from the scene.

NFD ladder truck

Firefighter venting the roof

Firefighters prepare to transport one of their own

NFD ambulance leaving the scene

Lots of emergency equipment on scene

Power Up (And Down)

AFD  Assistant Chief McKay unloading power cot from A1

The Amherst Fire Department is testing a new medical device that may not be a lifesaver, but it will most certainly be a backsaver.  For them.

Assistant Chief Don McKay remembers back in the late 1990s on one particularly tying call, two full time professional EMTs  injured their backs simultaneously. He remembers it well since he was one of the responders injured, and as a result he was out of work for a few months.

About one quarter of all workman's compensation claims each year are due to back injuries.  Such mishaps are expensive for employers, reduce company morale and can break up experienced squads who rely on knowing their partners.

Stryker power cot

Yes like most "medical devices" the power cots are expensive, between $12,000 and $14,000 each depending on accessories, versus a non powered unit at $3,500. But they eliminate three or four lifts per average incident and that's three or four opportunities for a back injury eliminated as well.

 Non powered unit (Ferno 35A)

The extra heavy duty units weigh 125 pounds and are rated to carry 800 pounds.  While traditional non powered units, which weigh 75 pounds, max out at 350 pound loads.  And these days it is not all that uncommon to be confronted by an extra heavy-weight patient.

The test unit has been in use only since Monday;  so far the feedback has been all positive. Ideally the department would order five units, one for each ambulance.

 24 volt battery is good for twenty runs between charges

Town Meeting unanimously approved AFD's FY14 (starts July 1) $211,000 capital budget for new turnout gear, training dummies, command vehicle and five "Lucas" automatic CPR devices, one for each ambulance. 

Fortunately the state came through with a grant to cover 90% of the $70,000 cost of the Lucas devices.  And since both the Lucas devices and power cots are classified as "medical devices," Town Meeting would probably consider the redirection of the funds now to purchasing the power cots as falling "within the scope of the article".

For instance, last year Town Meeting appropriated monies for four new police cruisers and APD only ended up needing three, so the remaining money was redirected to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle coming off lease and a used transport van.

Amherst prides itself on staying ahead of the curve.  These power cots are just another way of rolling firmly into the future.

Bad Hang Up

 The Volvo may have hit a utility pole before crashing into large rocks

Amherst Police are currently searching for the driver -- a college aged male -- who fled the scene of this one car motor vehicle accident on Triangle Street just on the outskirts of town center about an hour ago.

Witnesses say the driver was drunk.  The car is registered to a UMass student.

AFD responded to clean up leaking fluids

Dambusters

Yesterday town employees breached a beaver dam in South Amherst

While both cute and hard working, beavers can be a nightmare for property owners within proximity to their latest project.  Like this project on Plum Brook, running under West Street (Rt. 116) in South Amherst.

According to Assistant Town Manager (and still Director of Conservation) Dave Ziomek, "Beavers have dammed the Plum Brook in multiple places east of Rt. 116 and the backed up water (on both public and private land) is now causing some problems."

The current plan, approved by the Conservation Commission,  is to lower the water levels by breaching the dams over the next week.  In addition flow devices known as "beaver deceivers" may also be used.

Although Mr. Ziomek warned, "These situations are never easy."

This morning, finishing the job

Free At Last

 “A Start of Summer Block Party Celebrating Human Rights and the Juneteenth Holiday"

The "Juneteenth Holiday" commemorating the June 19, 1865 date the final Confederate state abolished slavery attracted a diverse crowd to the Amherst Town Common this evening.

 Reynolds Winslow, retired Chair Amherst Human Rights Commission

Reynolds Winslow, always a powerful speaker, accepted an award for his many years as Chair of the Amherst Human Rights Commission.

Although I was sad to hear him start his brief speech with the revelation that he has stepped down from the Commission, having recently moved to the city of Chicopee.  Amherst was fortunate to have his thoughtful input for as long as we did.

A Road Too Far

 

Farview Way, North Amherst

Longtime town resident Allan Carpenter went before the Pubic Works Committee two weeks ago to lobby in behalf of all the residents living on his street.

His modest single family home was built in 1914, four years after the town constructed Farview Way, and he and his wife purchased it in 1952.

This road has not a major renovation since LBJ was President.  For you non-history majors that was in 1964.

Currently, in addition to Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter 17 other single family homes are sprinkled all along Farview Way with a combined assessed value of a little over $5 million, generating $100,000 in property tax revenues paid to the Town annually.

The Public Works Committee was attentive and polite to Mr. Carpenter but offered no hope on the horizon for repaving Farview Way.

Sure the Governor recently cut in half Chapter 90 (road repair) monies,  sending many DPW chiefs into a paroxysm of disbelief.  Amherst was originally promised $1.2 million back when the weather was still cold; although fortunately, we only budgeted for $500,000.

Still, we will end up receiving $618,000.

And since President Obama declared Massachusetts a "disaster area" after the monster snow storm last February, the town should also be seeing an extra $100,000 or so in federal monies.  

Either way, not much consolation for residents of Farview Way. 

Growing Pains

 

Coming Soon:  Commonwealth College 1,500 beds

In his May 15 appearance before Amherst Town Meeting to pitch the joint town/gown study on coexisting in harmony, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy proactively addressed the #1 criticism leveled at UMass/Amherst:  build more housing to keep students on campus.

The Chancellor clearly pointed out that this fall, when Commonwealth College Residential housing goes on line (1,500 beds), UMass/Amherst will be #3 in the nation for housing students on campus. 

The relatively recent construction of "North Residential" also added 800 beds.

North Residential housing complex

And when Commonwealth College dorms come on line they, like North Residential, will not pay property taxes, even though both will be protected by the Amherst Fire Department.

This year AFD cost taxpayers just over $4 million to fund yet they spend 23% of their time dealing with UMass.

Graph courtesy Amherst Firefighters Local 1764

Umass is scheduled to grow over a ten year period at only 300 students per year.  Had the Gateway Project not been scuttled by noisy NIMBYs that alone would handled a couple of years worth of growth.

And of course The Retreat, a taxpaying student development in northeast Amherst would also absorb a couple of years worth of UMass growth.  If it ever gets built. 

Or, if provincial Amherst Town Meeting had only approved Form Based Zoning in village centers last year we would already be seeing mixed use buildings going up in North Amherst to greatly stimulate both commercial and residential stock.