Recent Events

 December 20, 1965 – Post Office
A mail truck arriving at the post office at 6:12AM burst into flames when the rear doors of the vehicle were opened. The fire destroyed most of the contents, including Christmas mail destined for Amherst and the surrounding towns.   

 July 16, 1962 – Amherst St. on Milford Rd.
In the middle of the night, a Quinn Freight Line truck carrying 58,ooo pounds of paper crashed off the road through several large trees. The fuel tanks exploded sounding like sonic booms. The truck and all the paper burned in a spectacular fire. The driver was thrown 25 feet clear of the truck and escaped without serious injury.   

 March 16, 1962 – Mack Hill Rd at Manchester Rd.
Elmcroft, built about 1800 and in ramshackle condition, was leveled by a suspicious fire.    

July 2, 1951
Harry Boutelle, then 81 years old, was honored with a surprise party to observe his 65 years with the Amherst Fire Department. He had joined the department at the age of 16 in July 1886. He was still responding to alarms and taking charge of the station when the trucks were out. He received a telegram from the Boston Fire Commissioner congratulating him and inviting him to join the Boston Fire Department if he should ever retire from the Amherst Fire Department.   

 June 15, 1950 – 12 Mack Hill Road
The Amherst Fire Department was called to the George Hyde residence after a fire started in a barrell with shavings. Heavy heat and smoke damaged the attached house, but the structure was saved and credited to the department’s new tanker truck.   

 December 15, 1949 – Austin Rd.
A television shop was destroyed by fire. The adjoining house was saved and credited to two recent additions to the Amherst Fire Department, a new tanker truck and an alarm system allowing for faster response.   

 February 15, 1948
A 3-story building known as Cushing’s Folly was completely destroyed. It contained a grocery store, the post office and three apartments. The old coal furnace in the basement had gone out of control and spread up through the third floor, totally involving the building. Water supply on Twombley Pond had 20 inches of ice that firefighters had to cut through to draft water. There was extreme exposure to other buildings in the village, helped by a windless evening, all were protected. Explosion of paint, oil and ammunition punctuated the fire.     

January 15, 1947 – Nichols Road
Edgewood Farm Rest Home was destroyed by fire.      

December 15, 1946
The Cox Nursing Home was “burned out”.      

March 9, 1931 – Baboosic Lake
The Moonbeam Ballroom was demolished when the porch roof collapsed under heavy rain soaked snow and pulled over much of the building.      

October 28, 1924 – Baboosic Lake
Four cottages and several out buildings were destoyed by an arsonist. One of the owners received a threatening letter from the K.K.K. prior to the arson.      

September 8, 1881
Forest fires and unusual weather conditions in the area caused greatly darkened skies. The darkened yellow sky appeared the worst between the hours of 11AM and 2PM when homes needed inside lighting. During those hours, the schools were dismissed and the hens roosted.