Fireground Southpoint Apartments

 Fire in the middle of the building

No major injuries but the building looks to be a total loss as fire departments from many, many surrounding towns joined AFD to put down a stubborn blaze at Southpoint Apartments, which had a pretty good head start before units first arrived on scene.

 

APD arrived first and assisted in getting people out of the burning building

 Tapping a hydrant immediately adjacent to the building

 

AFD two aerial platforms (Ladder 1, Engine 2) attack from above

Smoke was so thick it blotted out the sun

AFD Assistant Chief Lindsay Stromgren, incident commander, sizing up the smokey scene 

Video below was shot at 5:02 PM a little before the first AFD engine arrived

A Death In The Dead Of Night

North East Street

UPDATE:  April 9, 2015

The driver has been indicted in the death of Hanna Frilot 

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Exactly what went wrong late on a Thursday night in a sleepy part of town, culminating in a fatal merging of fast moving metal and tender flesh may never be known ... exactly. 

What we do know for sure is a promising 20-year-old, Dean's List, UMass engineering student, Hannah Frilot, died almost instantly while walking with a friend northbound along North East Street.  The scenic road has no sidewalks and no streetlights near where the tragedy occurred. 

 Hannah Frilot, age 20

As is usual in the case of a fatality, authorities are releasing precious little information.  But since the driver has not been charged with speeding, negligent operation of a motor vehicle or driving under the influence, safe bet the months long investigation will simply conclude it was a tragic accident.

First responders have their own set of priorities when it comes to emergency dispatch calls.  "Box alarm" -- a credible report of a structure fire -- will mobilize responders in a heartbeat.  As does reports of a "car vs pedestrian."

A total of 13 APD staff responded to the call.  2300 = 11:00 PM, PI= Personal Injury

Ms. Frilot was pronounced "dead at the scene," meaning the injuries were obviously extensive.  First responders -- police or EMS -- cannot officially pronounce death, but they do have the authority to not initiate care. 

Especially in the case of "obvious death" brought on by destruction of the heart or brain.  Or a scene best described in one word: "gruesome."

In the event of a fire or emergency medical incident AFD always has command and control at the scene.  But once EMS personnel have concluded there's "no patient in need of medical care," the accident scene is released to APD for their investigation.  

And leaving the deceased undisturbed at the scene rather than moving the remains to an ambulance can greatly aid the police in their investigation.  Hence no high speed transport to Bay State Medical Center in Springfield. 

 Note old style guard rails along roadside, no sidewalk, no streetlights. 220 North East is house on left. camera traveling north at 40 MPH (posted speed limit)

Already this tragedy is being used for political purposes on social media, suggesting sad incidents like this will only increase if The Retreat, a high-end housing project targeting UMass students, is built in northeast Amherst. 

A bit of a stretch considering this accident scene is two miles away from the proposed Retreat, a distance not usually considered walkable to the average college student.  All the more reason public officials need to be as transparent as possible with sensitive cases like this.

Balancing the public's right to know with the rights of family and friends to grieve in private is always extremely difficult.

Anytime there's even the slightest chance of illuminating facts that could lead to changes in behavior (or infrastructure improvements) to avoid a tragic recurrence, the answer is clear.

Hannah Frilot Funeral Fund

Beer and Art and Human Rights. Oh My!

Apparently all the alleged recent violations in town are driving the Human Rights Commission to drink. 

It's one thing for a Select Board or well known Town Meeting member to tweet about having a beer (or two) downtown after a typical contentious night of Amherst Town Meeting, but quite another for an offical town committee to set a public meeting with beer on the agenda.

Especially considering all the problems our little college town endures because of alcohol.

Yes, the Amherst Brewing Company is a sterling example of a business that does alcohol correctly.  And they are far from a rowdy youthful watering hole -- aka McMurphy's or Stacker's.

But still ... 

Another ARPS Racial Lawsuit Threatened

Lawrence O'Brien (center) Darius Modesto (left), Katherine Appy (right)

The offending memo:

click to enlarge/read

Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign

Da da da da double vision

No you're not seeing double when ambling thru the heart of downtown.

That really is a double banner hanging over South Pleasant street, and yes it is even rarer than a double rainbow.  The DPW accidentally double booked the popular marketing service (for non-profits only), so this was the Yankee farmer solution.  

And hey, since the town charges $80/week per banner, it's a quick way to double revenues.  At least Miss Emily gets top billing.

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Young'uns on Heatherstone Road have taken matters into their own artistic hands to decry dangerous speeders.  

Apparently APD got the message, as I heard a traffic enforcement operation last weekend over the scanner that slowed down or stopped cars the guaranteed way, via blue lights flashing.

My personal favorite:

 

 At least they said "Thanks"

Who Ya Gonna Call?

AFD Central Station, town center

The staffing problem at Amherst Fire Department -- or more precisely the lack of staffing -- has been well known for a v-e-r-y long time now.

Actually the problem is much bigger than that, including as well police, who often work shoulder to shoulder with firefighter/EMTs at the scene of an emergency.

The Town Manager acknowledges that (sort of) in his FY15 budget submitted to the Select Board last January:

But in his more recent memo (July 7) to the Select Board on "Long Term Staffing Plan Recommendations," there's not even a spark of hope for hiring more firefighters or increasing the minimum on-duty staffing.

One police officer is mentioned as a possible addition -- but only if the proposed regionalization of Emergency Dispatch saves $62,908 to fund that position.  An unlikely scenario. 

   

In 1992 AFD had a minimum of 7 on-duty personnel.  Today, after a doubling of call volume, the department has that same 7 on-duty minimum.

Yes, UMass/Amherst has kicked in an extra $80,000 to fund 4 extra firefighters (2 ambulances) Thursday night thru Sunday morning during the academic year, but even then, with weekend partying, they are still overwhelmed.

A 2003 study done by the town recommended a minimum staffing of ten.  Previously, the Fire Protection Needs Committee issued a report in 1966 recommending minimum staffing of fifteen. 

Back in 2005 the department received a $500,000 SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Act) grant to hire five firefighter/EMTs.  The federal grant program went into effect after 9/11 in an effort to bolster fire departments nationwide to at least minimum standards of protection.

The program has grown from $65 million awarded in 2005 to  $340 million awarded last Fiscal Year. AFD was one of only two departments in Massachusetts to win the grant back in the program's inaugural year, when far less funding was available. 

It's time to think about another SAFER grant application.

The terms have even changed to potentially being less costly to cities and towns, with the main difference being a municipality can lay off the employees at the end of the three years.  Previously a full year (in year 5) of locally funded employment was part of the contract.

Sure it may seem unfair to hire folks for only the duration of a grant, in this case three years.  But as long as you are up front about that during the hiring process, prospective first responders can decide for themselves if it's worth the risk.

The Amherst  Police Department, for instance, just had to lay off a "crime analyst" after two years of state grant funding.  But the department is better for having had her.

Considering interns often work for just for resume enhancement, at least these first responders would be fully paid while gaining valuable experience with one of the best departments (and certainly busiest per capita) in the state. 

In building his FY14 budget the Town Manager relied upon ambulance revenues of $2,195,723.   But because our department is so exceedingly busy (ambulance runs account for about 70% of all FD responses) actual revenues last fiscal year were a whopping $2,533,728 -- an additional, unexpected $338,000.

Or enough to fully fund five new firefighters, grant or no grant.

Tell Me What I Don't Know

 Left 3: Consultants for Town Gown Steering Committee ($60,000 worth)

Consultants hired by the Town Gown Steering Committee made their second public presentation this evening to a less than packed audience.  In fact only a couple dozen concerned citizens showed up, barely outnumbering the 18 committee members and 3 consultants sitting in front of the Town Room.

 Town Gown Committee (right table)

The presentation was pretty much a detail oriented rehash of what we already know:  UMass Amherst is the economic driving force in town, with half our population consisting of students, faculty, and staff.

But housing has not kept pace with demand fueled by our #1 employer, causing high prices ($1078 median rent vs $872 in nearby communities) and an exodus (34% decrease) of post college worker bees aged 25-44.

The flip side to that equation is the problem:  The 22% increase in "college aged" youth swarming the town since 2000.  And in our antiquated system of government where NIMBYs rule, large scale housing projects have little to no chance of ever breaking ground.

 Amherst housing units have grown only 3% over 14 years

Some recent positive news, however

Much of Amherst is built out, leaving little land left for commercial and residential development.  But UMass is also the #2 landowner in town, and the consultants did identify tracts of their land suitable for mixed use development (student housing and retail).

Parking lots off Mass Ave

The undeveloped but "shovel ready" former Frat Row, once proposed as the Gateway Corridor project:

The parking lots off University Drive adjacent to Southwest Towers could also be developed.

Ideally any of these projects would be the result of a public/private partnership whereby the development would be taxable.  A sound visionary project, approved by the Chancellor, would stand a good chance of getting the necessary legislative approval. 

The consultants also pointed out the importance of cooperation between the two superpowers and a need for continuous oversight.

They suggested the Town Gown Steering Committee become a permanent entity and -- calling it "extremely important" -- advocated the town hire an "Economic Development Director," a pet project of Town Manager Musante for the past few years.

The consultants will submit their final report later in the Fall.

 

 Co-Chairs Dave Ziomek and Nancy Buffone (right)