Westbound near the borders

   This past Monday morning I headed out to do another firehouse run, with a new GPS unit on loan and with my co-pilot Bill who hadn't been able to come along for the last few runs. It was turning out to be a warm summer day, so we were both happy to head out west towards the Berkshires.    

  The first stop was in the town of Middlefield, where the firehouse is located on Bell Road, near the town center. The trailer you can see part of just to the right of the photo is actually the town post office, right next door to the firehouse. Gives you an idea of how small the town is when the post office is in a portable trailer right?

After Middlefield, the next firehouse on the list was in the town of Peru, not the country of, but the town here in Western Massachusetts. The building here is located on East Main Road, and I love the bright red color.

The first trucks of the day today were in the town of Hinsdale. I got to the firehouse at the right time, as many of the vehicles were already outside. I was thrilled especially to see this older model parked on the side of the firehouse.

The Hinsdale firehouse is located on Maple Street, and is a great looking firehouse with both stone and siding. The building has a simple logo on the side, but is not the traditional wooden logo like I have seen in other firehouses, but one of tile. Pretty neat.

I had a hard time deciding which shots to post of the trucks that I took, so of course I had to post more than one photo of them.

After leaving Hinsdale, we continued on to the town of Dalton. The town's oldest employer you may have heard of, Crane &Co.  The company manufactures paper products used for our country's banknotes, passports, and the currency you might have in your wallet at this very moment. They also make great stationery! There is a museum in town on the history of the company, open in summer afternoons, but we didn't stop in, the day was getting warmer and we had more miles to cover today.

The Dalton firehouse is located on Flansburg Avenue, and the bay doors were open, another plus. Love the American flag grille on this truck.

After Dalton, it was time to bite the proverbial bullet and travel to another town I had been dreading since finishing the town of Springfield with its multiple firehouses. The town of Pittsfield also has multiple locations, so I knew this would be a trek to do. But we got it done!

This first firehouse in Pittsfield is located on Somerset Avenue.

The next location was the firehouse on Holmes Road, home to Engine Co 6.

The third firehouse we backtracked a little to, located on West Housatonic Street. By the way, there is a gas station across the street from this firehouse, that has an "invisible" curb, my car wasn't happy with that one stop.

The next stop was to the firehouse on Columbus Street, home of the town's fire department headquarters, which is located on the edge of a busy intersection. 

Luckily for us, a call came in while we were there, so I got to take some shots of the crew in action responding to the call.

One more firehouse in Pittsfield to go, and I was happy I had saved this one for last, as it was a pretty neat location to visit.

The firehouse here is home to Engine 5, and is also a training center. The firehouse has a great tower on the side of the property, where you can see the burn marks from previous training sessions.

The firehouse also has a memorial on the other side of the firehouse from the tower, and a great vegetable garden behind it as well.

With the town of Pittsfield completed, it was off to the next stop of the day in Lanesborough, but first it was time to take a lunch break. Just down the road from Pontoosuc Lake, if you ever have an urge for a great burger or ice cream, Krispy Cones is the place to be. Can we say 6 oz burgers? Yummy stuff. 

A couple of miles after lunch, we came to the Lanesborough firehouse, on South Main Street.

Creative use of old equipment here!

     The firehouse does not consist of just the one building pictured above however, there is also a large building on the side of the firehouse property as well.

After Lanesborough, it was time to continue on to the next stop of the day, in the town of New Ashford. 

Traveling up Route 7, we soon reached the firehouse here on Ingraham Road in the town. 

This wound up being the last firehouse on this run, as it was starting to get late and we were both pretty beat from the 5 hours in the car. Hancock was supposed to be the next stop, but with rain clouds overhead, it was time to head back down towards Route 9 and home.