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Medical aid then responded, and the person was transported to Berkshire Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Pittsfield Man Killed in Car Fire

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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Update on Jan. 21, 2022: Authorities are still investigating a fatal car fire on Wednesday morning that killed 69-year-old Barry Dunnells. 
 
Dunnells, of Pittsfield, was pulled from a 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo outside the Livingston Apartments on East Street by firefighters. 
 
He was taken to Berkshire Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. 
 
Fire officials said Dunnells was inside the burning car when they arrived at about 8:40 a.m. Two other vehicles parked nearby were damaged.
 
The body was taken to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office to determine the the cause and manner of death. Pittsfield detective and fire investigators, and the State Fire Marshal's Office are investigating the incident.

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A person suffered life-threatening injuries from a car fire on Wednesday morning that spread to two other vehicles.

Around 8:40 am, a motor vehicle fire was called into 911 at 257-265 East Street or the Livingston apartment building.  The car was parked in the parking lot behind the building on 7 Second St. 

The Pittsfield Fire Department responded with one engine and arrived at the same time as the Pittsfield Police Department. Upon arrival, they found a person was still in the burning vehicle and was on fire.

"Typically a motor vehicle fires a one-engine response, we responded one engine. They arrived concurrently with Pittsfield police and bystanders explained that there was still a person in the motor vehicle that was on fire," Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Garner reported.

He added that the fire began to spread to surrounding vehicles. Three vehicles in total were damaged.

"So Engine Three firefighters pulled the person from their burning vehicle.  At that point, I arrived and I found the fire had spread to other motor vehicles," he said. "I called for more assistance because Engine Three then started medical aid on the victim."

Medical aid then responded, and the person was transported to Berkshire Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

The section of Second Street that the apartment building is on was closed off for about two hours to make room for emergency vehicles.  

Garner confirmed that the fire was in a parked car and was not the result of a crash.  At the time, he did not have an update on the victim's condition.

The area of the fire is marked off with barricade tape.


The incident is currently being investigated by the Pittsfield Fire Department’s fire investigation unit, the Pittsfield Police, and Massachusetts Fire Marshal's Office.


Tags: fatal,   fire,   

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North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
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