Chickens escape coop blaze in Easthampton

EASTHAMPTON - Firefighters extinguished a blaze that consumed a shed and chicken coop on the corner of Monska and Campbell drives Tuesday morning.

Fire Department Capt. Dennis Peck said all the chickens escaped the blaze and the buildings sustained about $15,000 worth of damage.

Easthampton helps family who lost home in January fire

EASTHAMPTON - A displaced family that lost almost all their possessions in a Jan. 22 fire has received more than $600 in assistance from city employees and residents.

Amherst 13-year-old a real hero, by George

AMHERST - As he performed CPR on his mother, 13-year-old George Hamilton recalled the words to a song. "I was kinda of going, 'Stayin' alive, Stayin' alive,'" George said Friday, mimicking the compressions he delivered to the beat of the Bee-Gees 1977 disco classic. Never has a song been so aptly named, for in the end it helped Hamilton save his mother's life.

Burning truck closes I-91 south briefly Sunday

WHATELY - A rear axle fire on a milk truck closed down a section of I-91 south on Sunday, causing traffic to be diverted for approximately 45 minutes, said state police.

A fire started at approximately 3:37 p.m. in the rear axle of an 18-wheel truck that was transporting milk, forcing the truck to make an emergency stop on the highway near mile 32.

Girl gets hand stuck in Amherst Regional High School vending machine

AMHERST - Firefighters were called to Amherst-Pelham Regional High School Thursday to free a 13-year-old girl whose hand was stuck in a vending machine.

Amherst Fire Chief Tim Nelson said the girl had paid for a bottle of water, but the machine did not dispense it.

To retrieve the bottle she placed her hand up into the vending machine and promptly became stuck, Nelson said.

UMass student faces charge in trash fire

AMHERST - A University of Massachusetts student who reportedly set a Dumpster on fire on Hobart Lane early Sunday morning was taken into custody by police.

Chief says smoking likely cause of Granby house fire

GRANBY - Careless disposal of smoking materials is the likely cause of the fire that heavily damaged a house at 46 Morgan St. early Saturday morning, according to Granby Fire Chief Russell Anderson.