AMHERST Many of Amherst’s career firefighters, joined by those on the call and student forces, emergency dispatchers and others in the public safety community, entered the Town Room at Town Hall to applause Monday evening, a recognition for their recent service at one of the largest fires in the town’s history. Their presence at the meeting came as members of the Town Council read a citation praising their work at the fire at Olympia Place apartments and a neighboring construction site that began on the night of Nov. 7. In the middle of reading the citation, an emergency call necessitating two firefighter/ paramedics to leave immediately led to more clapping Among those reading the citation was District 2 Councilor Pat De Angelis, who said, “I’m going to cry because your work is so important and you are so important.” She later shook hands and offered hugs to several of the firefighters. Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren recognized his staff and mutual aid partners in the room, including those from Belchertown, Greenfield and West Springfield. “None of this can happen without a team effort,” Stromgren said. “I was proud to be part of it.” Bockelman said it is a tribute to their skills that there were no injuries to any of the 230 occupants of the building or to any firefighters. He also praised Stromgren for steady, calm and decisive leadership in making grave decisions at a moment’s notice. “I really think our fire chief distinguished himself that day,” Bockelman said, adding that several other department heads also stood out for their assistance. Council President Lynn Griesemer said a copy of the proclamation will be sent to the 32 communities who responded to Amherst’s appeal for help. Community meals Two community meals coinciding with Thanksgiving are taking place in Amherst. At the Amherst Survival Center, 138 Sunderland Road, the “Celebrating Native American Heritage & Giving Thanks to our Community” meal is set for Wednesday from noon to 2: 30 p. m. Meals will be available to eat in the dining room and will also be packaged for takeout. Live music will also be provided. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, Not Bread Alone, a program of the Center for Human Development, has its meal at 1 p. m. on the lower level of First Congregational Church, 165 Main St. Access is through the parking lot off Spring Street. Several downtown businesses and the town are having food drives and other incentives to make sure neighbors are being fed. The town’s community food drive has drop-off locations at several town buildings, like Town Hall, the Bangs Community Center and the police station, with downtown businesses doing collections including Aster & Pine Market and Julie Nolan Jewelry. Jones Library building update Foundation walls for the new addition and interior demolition are underway as construction on the Jones Library expansion and renovation continues. “Very exciting to see foundation walls going in,” said Trey Logie, the owner’s project manager with Colliers, told the Jones Library Building Committee. Slate is also being removed from the 1928 portion of the building, with much of it being retained and stored. “We will be reusing slate as much as possible in certain areas,” Logie said. General contractor Fontaine Brothers is on schedule, he said. “They’re right where they need to be,” Logie said. One recent issue was a loss of water to the building, which affected nearby Amherst Coffee. Bob Peirent, special capital projects coordinator for the town, explained that it was better this happened during construction than after. New housing development A mixed-use building, known as the second phase of South East Court Apartments, is being proposed for construction at 126, 140 and 148 South East Street and 43 Belchertown Road. The project would be developed by Amir Mikhchi, who runs the Auto Express franchises in Amherst and Hadley and has previously opened a three-story building with 57 apartments and space for three retailers on South East Street. Josh Kline, an engineer at Stonefield Engineering & Design, told the Conservation Commission at a recent meeting that the mixed-use structure will include 725 new plantings. The commission will continue the public hearing Dec. 3 at 7: 20 p. m. Mass shootings and voting University of Massachusetts researchers, joined by the Brennan Center for Justice, have found that mass shootings can spur higher voter turnout in nearby communities, but the effect doesn’t appear to change how people vote for president. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, analyzed whether mass shootings motivate Americans to vote, and if they change whom voters support at the polls. “Mass shootings boost turnout generally, but especially in deeply blue areas [and] without changing minds,” Kelsey Shoub, associate professor of public policy at UMass, said in a statement. “However, they do seem to move the needle on very specific gun-reform ballot initiatives.” Shoud and Kevin Morris, senior research fellow at the Brennan Center, used data from the Gun Violence Archive and nearly half a billion individual voter records to build the datasets to study the question, comparing turnout in neighborhoods located within 10 miles of mass shootings that occurred shortly before or after the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
https://gazettenet.com/2025/11/21/around-amherst-firefighters-recognized-for-olympia-place-response/
Around Amherst: Firefighters recognized for Olympia Place response
