Steeplejack Plummets to Death

Source: Union-News (Springfield, MA) Author: FRED CONTRADA WILLIAMSBURG, MA –  Bruce Niemitz and a co-worker were planning to install just one sheet of metal on the steeple of the First Congregational Church yesterday morning before calling it a day. Before they could finish putting the piece of sheet metal in place, Niemitz slipped and fell 80 […]

Gorge Rescue Takes 2 Hours

Used by permission – Springfield Republican By Rick Reiken, Staff Writer CHESTERFIELD, MA – Wile making a climb on the cliffs of Chesterfield Gorge yesterday, a Northampton man fell 35 feet, injuring his left knee and requiring a two-hour rescue by local emergency personnel. Charles Bixby, 41, was taken to the Cooley Dickenson Hospital where […]

Historic Smithy Damaged – Fire Ravages Williamsburg Shop

Union-News (Springfield, MA) Author: FRED CONTRADA WILLIAMSBURG, MA – Fire raced through a landmark blacksmith shop in the town’s Historic District yesterday, gutting the interior and backing up traffic for more than a mile along Route 9. Williamsburg Blacksmiths, Inc., was still standing last night as firefighters from three towns continued to extinguish small blazes through […]

Call Prevents Calamity

Firefighter’s response lessens damage of blaze Union-News (Springfield, MA) Author: RICHARD BOURIE; FRED CONTRADA WILLIAMSBURG, MA – A volunteer firefighter driving students home from school yesterday helped avert a disaster when he radioed in a report of a fire on Nash Hill Road, according to Fire Chief Roger Bisbee. Pete Banister, who also drives a Williamsburg […]

Shooting Mishap Injures Boy

Source: Union-News (Springfield, MA) WILLIAMSBURG, MA – A 15-year-old boy accidentally shot himself with a .22-caliber rifle yesterday when he slipped on the snow while walking up a hill behind his North Main Street home on his way to target practice, police said. The youth, whom police declined to identify, suffered a flesh wound in […]

2 Apartments Hit by Fire in Ceiling

Firefighters Rush to Williamsburg Union-News (Springfield, MA) Author: RICHARD NADOLSKI WILLIAMSBURG, MA – A fire that apparently started in the ceiling of a first-floor apartment of a house on Mountain Street damaged that unit and one upstairs before being extinguished by firefighters yesterday. Volunteer firefighters from Williamsburg, Goshen and Chesterfield responded to the 11:38 a.m. blaze […]

Fire Damages Williamsburg House

Union-News (Springfield, MA) Author: RICHARD NADOLSKI WILLIAMSBURG, MA – Fire Chief Roger Bisbee said yesterday that an electrical switch in a cellar stairway caused a fire Tuesday which heavily damaged a house on Route 9 and left a family of four homeless. Bisbee said the blaze at the two-story, combination frame and concrete block house at […]