Lifeguard Shortages May Mean 'Swim At Your Own Risk' At Burbank Park

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There may be no lifeguards at Onota Lake's Burbank Park this year due to a lack of applicants. 

"It's been increasingly challenging with each passing year to attract lifeguards. In the past number of years, we've really tried to step up how we seek applicants. We've been reaching out to partner organizations. We've done it all. We've offered to pay for lifeguard certification courses. We just have not seen the applicants come through," Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath told the Parks Commission on Tuesday. 

"This year was especially dire." 

With only a couple of potential hires, the city will soon decide if the public beach at Onota Lake will be "Swim At Your Own Risk" this season.  McGrath said the job posting can be kept open for a little while longer, but stressed that there has to be a point where the community is notified that there won't be any lifeguard hours this year. 

This would be the first time in years. 

In 2022, an 8-year-old girl was found unresponsive at the Burbank Park public beach and later passed away, and last year, a Herberg Middle School student drowned at Benedict Pond in Great Barrington. 

"This is top of mind. Waterfront safety is top of mind, and this does not feel good when we're trying to promote water safety," McGrath said. 

"We're ready to jump in the proverbial deep end to try to figure out how we can make it as safe as possible at the lake. So I just wanted to give you a heads up, it would certainly be before your next meeting that we would have to really pull the trigger on this." 

Pittsfield Remembers Lives Lost to Overdose, Underscores Harm Reduction

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33AM / Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Mayor Peter Marchetti reads a proclamation at City Hall encouraging residents to raise awareness and lift each other up. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dozens of people gathered downtown on Monday to remember those lost to overdose and work toward a future of zero deaths from substance use disorder. 

The Berkshire Overdose and Addiction Prevention Collaborative and its partners held a proclamation reading and flag-raising at City Hall, followed by a standout in Park Square with signs promoting the use of naloxone, harm reduction, and reducing associated stigma. 

There were 23 fatal overdoses in Berkshire County in 2025, 11 in Pittsfield. This is down 44 percent from the 41 countywide fatalities in 2024. 

While it is a significant decrease, advocates want to see that number at zero. 

"On the one hand, we're very pleased to see this significant of a decrease. This is actually the lowest number that we've had since [Department of Public Health] started collecting these numbers in 2013, but the goal is still zero," said Andy Ottoson, public health planner with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. 

August is International Overdose Awareness Month, the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember those lost without stigma, and acknowledge the grief of families and friends left behind. September is National Recovery Month, a national observance to educate the public on the importance of substance use treatment and mental health services.

Samantha Kendall of Berkshire Harm Reduction explained that it is truly meeting people where they are, as they are, and when they are, "and I think we all do a really great job at that."

"We also want to remember that we're building a community for everybody, and systems and policies for everybody. That's really important in harm reduction work, so that's also the reason we're here today," she said.