Spring Street Fire

By Susan Bush12:00AM / Thursday, March 29, 2007Print Story | Email Story

Firefighters attack a fire on Spring Street early this morning. [Photo by Sue Bush]

Williamstown - A Spring Street building sustained smoke, flame and water damage this morning and a town police officer is credited with discovering the blaze while out on patrol. Subway Building Basement Fire The building that housed a Subway sandwich shop was heavily damaged during the blaze, which was reported at about 3:52 a.m.. Police Officer Detected Fire During an on-scene interview, Town Assistant Fire Chief Robert Briggs said that the fire was active in the building's basement and firefighters were inside the building attacking the flames. A town police officer discovered and reported the fire, Briggs said. Town police Chief Kyle Johnson said that police Officer Joe Ross was patrolling the Water Street area when he smelled a strong smoke odor and investigated the odor's source. Once on Spring Street, Ross noticed smoke rolling from the Subway building and immediately called for the fire department. Ross's actions probably kept the situation from becoming significantly worse, Johnson said. "He smelled the smoke and he tracked it down," Johnson said. "This could have been a lot worse. Officer Ross actions most likely kept the fire contained to the one building." Several fire trucks and yards of water-carrying hose lined Spring Street as acrid smoke poured from the building and smothered the street with a thick cloud-like canvas. Firefighters were observed entering the building from the rear, which is adjacent to the Purple Pub, and ladders were propped against the building sides. Town firefighters almost immediately called for assistance from the Pownal Protective Fire Association in Pownal, Vt., and a safety team from the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department was called to the scene. Members of the PPFA were at the fire scene and provided coverage at the town fire station. Stamford Volunteer Fire Department firefighters provided coverage for the Clarksburg fire department. As of 6 a.m., firefighters remained on the scene of the fire. Gas and electric company crews were called to the scene to cut power and gas service to the premises. Investigators from the Office of the State Fire Marshal have been called to the scene. During an on-scene interview with Briggs, he said that at that time, there was no fire cause determined but he noted that firefighters were still battling the blaze. As of 5:30 a.m., there were no reported firefighter injuries. The Village Ambulance Service was at the fire scene.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

Save & Earn with Greylock

3.30% APY 6-month certificate. Click to learn more! Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Willinet Cameras to Capture Monday's Williamstown Select Board Session

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
02:31PM / Saturday, October 24, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board's third-floor meeting to complete its evaluation process for the town manager will be televised by the town's public, educational and governmental television station.

Willinet Executive Director Teri Yuan confirmed this week that the station will put a camera in the upstairs conference room to record a planned 8 p.m. single-item agenda meeting to do the annual review of Town Manager Robert Menicocci.

The board at its last meeting decided to break the evaluation out from its regular 7 p.m. meeting in the first floor Community Meeting room, which is set up with multiple cameras and audio equipment to facilitate live Willinet telecasts of most public meetings of town boards and committees.

The Select Board offered no real explanation for the desire to complete the evaluation in an otherwise public meeting outside of view from Willinet's cameras other than a desire to "sit around the table" rather than sit on one side of a large table along one side of the first floor meeting room.

The "sit around the table" talk was particularly puzzling given the fact that Willinet has a camera mounted on the wall behind the spot where Menicocci generally sits for Select Board meetings, a camera that gives a full view of both sides of the table, and an angle that Willinet frequently uses when panels like the Finance Committee invite participants to sit across the table from the committee to give testimony.

Perhaps the real reason is better explained by a joking comment from one Select Board member at the Sept. 28 meeting who indicated that doing the evaluation without access to things like Zoom capability was "the object" of moving that business to the third-floor meeting room.

The evaluation discussion on Monday evening will follow on a survey of the five board members assessing Menicocci's performance in fiscal year 2026, which ended on June 30.

View Full Story