Object floating in Connecticut River triggers search; Chicopee, Springfield firefighters launch boats
Updated Feb 25, 2021;
Posted Feb 25, 2021
Chicopee firefighters retrieve a discarded life vest from the Connecticut River near the Chicopee line on Thursday, Feb. 25. Multiple fire departments responded in rescue boats after someone reported seeing a body in the water.
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The search was called off when the object turned out to be a life jacket.
Springfield Fire Department spokesman Drew Piemonte said a member of the public called 911 after seeing what could be a body in the river somewhere north of the North End Bridge.
The Springfield, West Springfield and Chicopee Fire Departments responded.
Authorities charge homeless man with arson in Springfield fire; Park Street building was set for demolition
Updated Feb 12, 2021;
Posted Feb 12, 2021
This building at 24 Park St. in downtown Springfield, which was set to be demolished, was damaged in a fire Feb. 10, 2021. (Don Treeger / The Republican file photo)
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SPRINGFIELD A suspect was arrested by Springfield authorities Thursday in connection with a fire that damaged a derelict downtown building the day before.
John Patrick Doherty, 35, whose last known address was in Darmouth, was arrested and charged with arson of a building after fire investigators and Springfield police detectives identified him from video surveillance footage and eyewitness statements.
Springfield fire destroys Sixteen Acres home
Updated Jan 27, 2021;
Posted Jan 27, 2021
1/27 - The remains of a home at 2490 Wilbraham Road following an early morning fire. The building is considered a complete loss.
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SPRINGFIELD A fire that started early Wednesday in an unoccupied home on Wilbraham Road in Sixteen Acres has left the building a total loss, according to a fire official.
Capt. Drew Piemonte, aide to Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi, said no one was injured in the 4 a.m. fire at 2490 Wilbraham Road.
The home was unoccupied and in the process of being renovated at the time of the fire, he said.