image description — Firefighters quickly contained a fire that started in the garage but its cause is under investigation.

Pittsfield Firefighters Respond to Blaze on East Street

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
09:39PM / Sunday, September 10, 2023Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A section of East Street was closed for more than an hour as firefighters knocked down a blaze at a building on the Haddad Subaru lot.

The fire was in a former home turned office between the Ford and Subaru dealerships. It was called in just before 8 p.m.

"There was a fire in the wall in the garage," said Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Noyes, referring to the small two-car garage on the east side of the building. "The investigators are on scene trying to figure out what started it."

He estimated it took about 15 minutes to contain and douse the blaze but checking for extensions in the building "takes quite a bit of time."

The damage could be seen about the one-story garage where it connects to the two-story Dutch colonial.

Tags: structure fire,

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Lanesborough Hopes for Continued Talks on Mall Sale

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
06:41PM / Wednesday, November 11, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board is optimistic that talks for the Berkshire Mall sale will continue.

Chair Deborah Maynard and Vice Chair Juli Baker were to meet with mall owner JMJ Holdings, the Baker Hill Road District, and proposed buyer Cypress Equities on Tuesday to discuss next steps. As of Wednesday, iBerkshires had received a "we are optimistic" from Maynard on the talks. The Berkshire Eagle reported a response from a Cypress representative saying talks will continue.

Baker had updated the Select Board on Monday about the status of the sale and the efforts being undertaken by the renamed Baker Hill Economic District.

Cypress Equities pulled out of a purchase-and sale-agreement with mall owner JMJ last week for the following reasons.

Not enough water service/pressure to the property to support redevelopment without constructing costly water tanks.
The current septic system and former treatment facility is not acceptable for a project of the scale and magnitude proposed.
There is existing asbestos and bad soil from the treatment system that needs to be remediated off site.
And the current structure and tax assessment of the Baker Hill Road District.

Baker has been working with what is now being called the Baker Hill Economic District and said she and the district members are happy that Cypress has decided to leave the door open to more discussions and that they have been working hard to try and address the company's needs.

Last month, the town had asked state Sen. Paul Mark and state Rep. John Barrett III to support the state Department of Transportation taking over the Connector Road, funding for a mall connection to Pittsfield's wastewater treatment plant and a connection to the town's water main.

Baker said an amendment has been drafted to cap the district's taxes to not grow more than 2.5 percent a year. She noted that, historically, taxes have not grown by more than one percent per year, so it won't be difficult to meet that cap.

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