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Pittsfield Man Charged with Setting A-Mart Convenience Store Blaze
Update: PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Pittsfield man has been arrested in relation to the devastating fire that destroyed the A-Mart convenience store on Tuesday night.
Thomas Roberts, 51, was arrested Wednesday on charges of arson and injuring a firefighter.
Authorities determined the blaze as suspicious after an investigation by the Detective Bureau and Crime Scene Services, along with fire investigators. The building is most likely a total loss.
Roberts was located by members of the police anti-crime unit in a motel within the city. He is being charged with injuring a firefighter because one Pittsfield firefighter was taken to Berkshire Medical Center for a shoulder injury.
The investigators are thanking everyone who provided information, and businesses that provided access to their video surveillance systems, which enabled them to quickly resolve the case.
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Posted: 1:48 p.m., Oct. 16, 2019
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The double-alarm fire that destroyed the A-Mart Convenience & Liquor Store on Tuesday night is under investigation.
Fire Chief Thomas Sammons said the structure was fully involved in flames when firefighters arrive just before 10:30 p.m.
"What we know for sure is the business closed at 10, and at 10:24 there was extensive fire in the loft area of the ceiling," he said on Wednesday. The chief said he has been in touch with investigators who are still searching for a cause.
The blaze was called in by a passerby who saw flames on the outside of the building at 524 North St. Sammons said firefighters made an initial entry into the structure and realized it was much more extensive than first expected.
"It was already running the length of that portion of the building," he said. "That whole section was involved in the ceiling area."
Firefighters made a trench cut in the roof and found fire within the ceiling space.
"This was way back from where the initial fire was on the outside of the building," Sammons said. "So nobody was allowed inside or on the roof."
The A-Mart is located in the western portion of the L-shaped building; a barber shop is in the section at the back of the parking lot and that parallels North Street.
Fire crews directed streams of water into the building and North Street was closed between Linden Street and Madison Avenue. The initial working group called a double alarm to bring in more manpower with another truck company, and an additional engine company and a ladder truck from Lenox and Dalton.
Sammons estimated it took about two hours to bring the inferno under control and crews remained on scene all night putting out hotspots.
Images on social media showed heavy smoke billowing up from North Street and flames within the building.
The popular store was open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. and had offered a variety of grocery, pharmacy and convenience needs, including liquor. The one thing it didn't have was gasoline.
On Wednesday morning, the area around the building was cordoned off and a fire truck was on scene. The store's jaunty sign still towered over the plaza but the owners of the structure declined to speak to media.
The business had been run by a local family for some three decades before being purchased by a Chelmsford company, Sonal Patel LLC, for $1,113,691 in September 2017.
The A-Mart section of the building is a total loss but the barbershop side was saved.
"The crews worked very hard and were able to prevent it going to the other side, the barbershop," Sammons said. "So they were able to save part of the building, at least."
The chief confirmed that one firefighter was taken to Berkshire Medical Center for treatment of a shoulder injury. The individual was treated and released with his arm in a sling but is expected to recover.
"It was a lot of hard work and the guys did a great job," the chief said.
Complete write-thru 1:48 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019; original post 1:24 a.m., Oct. 15.
Propane Tank Explosion in Cheshire Destroys Property
CHESHIRE, Mass. — A propane tank explosion rocked Lake Shore Drive on Friday night at about 8. Miraculously, there were no injuries but the recreational vehicle and adjacent structure are a total loss.
Occupant David Willett said he was fortunate to get out unharmed.
"I was up watching TV and smelled a weird odor," he said on Saturday at the scene. "I got out of there and called 911."
Two minutes later the propane tank exploded.
Lake Shore Drive is a dead-end road off Lanesborough Road, not far from the Route 8 intersection. The lane runs down the center of a small, curving peninsula into Cheshire Reservoir.
The conflagration could be seen from the north end of the lake where residents gathered in the lake access parking lot to watch.
According to the Cheshire Fire Department, firefighters were dispatched at 8:06 p.m. for a report of a fully involved house fire with propane tank explosions. The first engine company on arrival reported heavy fire showing from an RV that was parked directly next to a residence. The residence was also on fire.
Several propane tanks exploded while firefighters were battling the blaze, according to the statement by Cheshire Fire. The investigation by Chief Thomas Francesconi and a trooper with the State Police Fire Investigative Unit has determined the fire is not suspicious "and appears to be the result of a mechanical malfunction."
Members were on scene until 3 a.m. Saturday. Chief Francesconi thanked the Adams, Lanesborough, Savoy and Dalton fire departments for their assistance at the scene and covering the station, as well as Adams Ambulance Service, Cheshire Police and utility crews.
Willett has been in contact with his sister and brother, who are on their way with clothes and supplies as everything he owned was lost — including the bike he uses to get to work. He wanted everyone to know that he is OK and very lucky.
He said Cheshire Fire will continue monitoring the situation Saturday as a precaution.
Pittsfield Man Struck, Killed by Tractor-Trailer
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A local man was killed Monday evening after being struck by a tractor-trailer on Route 8.
Ernest Millette, 73, of Pittsfield was pronounced dead on the scene in the area of 550 Cheshire Road.
At about 7:12 p.m., a 2019 semi-truck operated by Matthew Osak, 34, of Lee, was northbound and turning left into Unistress. Upon making the turn, the vehicle struck Millette, who was walking in the driveway.
Pittsfield Police and Fire, state police, Berkshire County sheriff deputies, and County Ambulance responded to the scene.
The crash remains under investigation by Officer Michael Silver of the Pittsfield Police Department Traffic Unit.
Adams Police Arrest Suspect in Val's, Racing Mart Break-ins
ADAMS, Mass. — Police say they have arrested a suspect in the burglaries committed at Val's Package Store and Racing Mart Gas Station early Sunday morning.
According to a statement from the Adams Police Department, officers responded to both Columbia Street businesses for what employees of the businesses reported as a breaking and entering that had occurred during the nighttime. Property was destroyed and money was stolen from both locations.
Night- and day-shift officers on Sunday, working with a detective, investigated the break-ins and arrested the suspect within hours.
The State Police Crime Scene Unit was called to assist in processing the scene, and officers also obtained video surveillance footage. Police said this footage showed a man who was known to the investigating officers conduct the breaking and entering and larceny within the business.
Officers quickly located him on Columbia Street, walking down the street carrying a television set that was stolen from a residence moments prior. He was arrested on multiple charges related to the break-ins and the active warrants already out for his arrest.
The defendant will be transported to Northern Berkshire District Court in North Adams on Monday morning for arraignment.
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