Firefighters were staged in the Sons of Italy parking lot Wednesday morning. Once hotspots are eliminated, they plan to vacate the scene.It was all hands on deck Tuesday with multiple fire departments responding to the blaze. As of Wednesday morning things have calmed down.
Mayor Thomas Bernard and Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre held a press briefing Wednesday Morning.
Update: The fire was declared out at 10 a.m. on Wednesday almost exactly 24 hours after it was reported Tuesday.
It took dozens of firefighters from as far away as Orange and Northampton to aid in bringing the massive blaze under control. By noon, all units had been released and North Adams firefighters were cleaning up tools and equipment.
"As of 10 o'clock this morning, we concluded firefighting operations. All known hotspots have been extinguished. We've turned the property back over to the owners, Apkin," said Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre. "Now we're conducting cleanup operations hitting all of our equipment placed back into service and decon from all the dirt and mud and the contamination that were on scene."
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Firefighters hope to vacate George Apkin & Sons scrapyard Wednesday afternoon as operations wind down.
North Adams Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre and Mayor Thomas Bernard provided an update early Wednesday morning in the Sons of Italy parking lot, and Bernard said although the firefight is ongoing, firefighters have entered into a new operational period and hope to have the fire completely managed by this afternoon.
"This is an ongoing firefighting operation, and the fire is largely contained," Bernard said. "Firefighters are continuing to identify hotspots with the help of machine operators at Apkin's who are breaking up the piles."
Dozens of firefighters spent Tuesday battling a raging fire that broke out in the scrapyard when a spark ignited gasoline still in a vehicle being cut up for scrap.
Black smoke could be seen throughout the downtown as fires burned in the 100-foot long pile of automotive debris.
Bernard reiterated that overnight air quality monitoring showed that the air still poses no health risk.
"I think the most important thing is that, overnight, air quality monitoring continues to show that there are no significant issues," he said. "In fact, there are no significant issues whatsoever with air quality."
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the state Department of Environmental Protection's air quality monitoring team and state Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Division responded Tuesday to test the toxicity of the fumes from the junkyard fire. Air monitors were set up at various points throughout the city.
Tuesday, residents and businesses were asked to close their windows, close HVAC systems, shut off air conditioners, and stay indoors while the air quality was initially tested.
Lefebvre said the fire is waning and firefighters will continue to use thermal imaging to locate hotspots within the scrap.
"We use a thermal imager to monitor the pile that is on fire," he said. "Once they reveal that the temperatures are safe and they will not rekindle, that is when we make that determination."
He said once firefighters completely eliminate these small fires they can shut the operation down.
"Once those fires have been eliminated it should just be clean up and mop up," he said. "We should be out of here around this afternoon i expect."
Lefebvre said the State Fire Marshall has concluded their investigation, and the incident has been ruled as an industrial accident.
"It is pretty cut and dry," he said. "From here we just have to clean up and talk to the owner about how we can prevent this from happening again."
Lefebvre said he did not have another briefing scheduled. He said he may hold one the operation has concluded.
The city received support from local fire companies including Adams, Adams Fire Wardens, Clarksburg, Florida, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lee, Otis, Peru, Richmond, Sheffield, Stamford, Vt., Williamstown and Windsor. Arriving late Tuesday were Amherst, Orange, South Hadley and Westhampton.
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North Adams Eyes Sustainability Committee Creation
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The mayor wants a panel that can advise her on sustainability issues — but she's leaving it up to the City Council to figure the best way to do it.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey on Tuesday presented a list of objectives and how she thought a Sustainability Committee could support the administration.
These would include shaping policies and plans, making recommendations to the administration, reviewing projects through a sustainability lens, set goals and benchmarks (such as water conservation and greenhouse gases), track progress and create reports, hold public meetings and workshops, educate the public and take input, and coordinate efforts across departments.
"We already have a group doing some of this work. But do we make them official, or do we fold some of their work into one of our City Council committee?" asked the mayor. "I will leave that up to the council to decide. My biggest concern about forming another committee is, we're having a hard time filling the committees that we do have."
She asked that should the council decide to establish a committee, it keep the membership to no more than five because of the difficulty in filling volunteer board seats. She also cautioned that the administration doesn't have the capacity for a sustainability officer, though that could change in the future.
The grassroots group is the North Adams Sustainability Task Force, an offshoot of Green North Adams.
Jennifer Dunning, a member of the task force, spoke at hearing of visitors to evince support for a formal committee.
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