IPSWICH — A fire damaged a 2-½ story home on Drumlin Road in Ipswich on Monday night.
At 11:35 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 16, the Ipswich Fire Department responded to a report of smoke coming from the home at 10 Drumlin Road. While firefighters were en route, a police officer arrived on scene and reported fire showing from the house.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
DANVERS — Fire officials are reminding residents to check their fire alarms after it was determined there were no working alarms in the Danvers home of a man killed in a blaze last week.
The fire broke out in a single-family home at 36 MacArthur Blvd. around noon on Jan. 27.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
BOSTON — Massachusetts is among a minority of states where you can lose your driver’s license for unpaid parking tickets, tolls and other minor violations.
But advocates want to change that. A proposal on Beacon Hill would effectively end debt-based driving restrictions by prohibiting the state Registry of Motor Vehicles from suspending drivers’ licenses over unpaid fines for non-criminal infractions.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
WESTWOOD — As 2025 comes to a close, AAA Northeast urges those who plan to take part in year-end holiday celebrations to designate a sober driver.
In December 2023, 1,038 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes nationwide — with more than a quarter of those fatalities occurring during the Christmas and New Year holiday periods according to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nighttime driving is significantly more dangerous than daytime driving: 30% of drivers involved in fatal crashes between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. were drunk.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
SALEM — A Lynn man was arrested on three counts of distributing cocaine following a joint operation by Salem and Lynn police.
The Criminal Investigation Divisions of the Salem and Lynn police departments completed a lengthy joint investigation on Thursday with the arrest of Derrick Poe of 46 Mall St., Apartment 4, in Lynn on three counts of distributing a Class B substance.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
BEVERLY — A woman has been displaced following a fire that broke out Tuesday morning inside her Cape-style home on Putnam Street.
Firefighters were called to 62 Putnam St. shortly before 11 a.m., Beverly Fire Chief Peter O’Connor said. The home’s sole occupant had gotten herself out by then and was uninjured.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
SALEM — A Lynn man was arrested on three counts of distributing cocaine following a joint operation by Salem and Lynn police last Thursday.
On Dec. 18, the Criminal Investigation Divisions (CID) of the Salem and Lynn police departments completed a lengthy joint investigation with the arrest of Derrick Poe of 46 Mall St., Apartment 4, in Lynn, on three counts of distributing a Class B substance.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
CONCORD, N.H. — Two men have been charged with murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a man in Derry in May.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, New Hampshire State Police Col. Mark Hall and Derry Police Chief George Feole announced the arrests of Jeffrey Li, 18, and Marco Junior Marquez Vera, 20, on Monday.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
IPSWICH — Two men were rescued from the second floor of a structure at Linebrook Farm during a fire on the property early Monday afternoon.
The farm provides boarding and training for horses, riding lessons and camps at 383 Linebrook Road, where crews from Ipswich, Rowley, Gloucester, Essex and responded to a fire that broke out after noontime Monday.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
IPSWICH — Firefighters rescued a father and son who were trapped inside of a burning home next to a horse barn on Linebrook Road midday Monday.
First responders were called to 383 Linebrook Road at 11:51 a.m. to respond to a structure fire on the property, and learned en route that two people were trapped inside by the flames, the Ipswich Fire Department said in a statement.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
GLOUCESTER — At least one person was taken to the hospital as a blaze ripped through a home at 62 Woodward Ave. on Saturday afternoon.
Fire Chief Eric Smith said the Gloucester Fire Department responded to a two-alarm fire at the waterfront property about 2:20 p.m., finding heavy fire and smoke showing from the building.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
High fire danger led the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts on Friday, and the Gloucester Fire Department would like to remind residents and business owners that they can help protect themselves by reviewing the Community Wildfire Protection Plan that was prepared by Cape Ann stakeholders this spring.
The Cape Ann Community Wildfire Protection Plan website, https://bit.ly/3CjdhPT, provides detailed maps of Cape Ann along with numerous resources for home and business owners to protect their properties against fire. An entire section of the plan is focused on steps that home and property owners can take to help protect their properties.
Among the tips for homeowners are reducing flammable brush within 5 feet of the home, keeping gutters clean and keeping trees trimmed back from homes and trimmed at least 10 feet from the ground.
The Cape Ann plan also identifies high-risk areas for wildfires and suggested strategies for preventing them and reducing risk.
Those strategies include mechanical fuel treatments, in which vegetation that can fuel fires is managed; adding fire containment features to the environment, such as firebreaks; working with local home owners associations and residents to develop fuel break measures around homes and properties; working with the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish forest projects that reduce wildfire risk; and implementing a community chipper program to encourage residents to keep brush and other vegetation cut back from their homes.
“The Gloucester Fire Department and other regional, state and federal stakeholders put a lot of work into creating this plan earlier this year in preparation for the dangerous fire conditions we knew would come,” Deputy Chief Robert Rivas said. “We encourage homeowners and business owners to review the plan and learn what they can about simple ways to protect lives and property.”
PEABODY — A Peabody man was arrested on a sixth drunk driving offense earlier this month after crashing a motorcycle into a stone wall while under the influence.
The incident occurred just before 11 p.m. on Oct. 5 at the corner of Franklin and Kosciusko streets.
George Bradley, 55, was allegedly speeding down Franklin Street on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he noticed a stop sign too late, tried to break and “left a skid mark for approximately 50 feet before disregarding the stop sign and crashing into the stone wall of 5 Kosciusko St.,” according to a police report.
Bradley was evaluated at the scene for injuries, but refused to be taken to the hospital, police said. While the motorcycle was dented in the crash, the wall was undamaged.
Police said Bradley failed field sobriety tests at the scene and was arrested.
In addition to a sixth drunk driving offense, he was charged with operating an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, negligently operating a vehicle and driving with a suspended license.
Police said the motorcycle was owned by someone other than Bradley.
The Essex County District Attorney’s office confirmed that Bradley did have his driver’s license revoked for life upon his fifth OUI offense, per state law.
He is being held without bail following a dangerousness hearing.
Several large brush fires broke out across the region this weekend amid the ongoing dry weather.
A large brush fire had been smoldering for a day off Cain Road and Highland Avenue in Salem before flames broke out early Sunday morning.
Salem firefighters were trying to contain the blaze via a controlled burn, according to reports, but also had to work to protect buildings and homes close to the flames. The fire also threatened a cell tower at one point.
A public safety alert just before 10 a.m. urged residents to avoid the area.
In Beverly, a brush fire broke out near 40 Enon St., behind McDonald’s toward Wenham Lake, on Saturday blanketing the area in smoke.
Two brush fires were also reported in Topsfield on Saturday. And yet another brush fire was reported in Middleton Sunday afternoon near Emerson Brook Reservoir.
A red flag warning is in place across Massachusetts, indicating extreme fire danger.
NEWBURY — A 54-year-old man who fell from a boat was rescued Sunday night at Riverfront Marina.
The unidentified man was pulled from the water shortly after 6:10 p.m. as the Newbury Police and Fire departments responded to the marina at 292 High Road, according to Deputy Police Chief Aaron Wojtkowski and Fire Chief David Evans.
Sgt. Jason DaCunha was the first officer to arrive and, along with Officer Manny Terrero, helped hold the man’s head above water until additional emergency personnel responded, the chiefs said in a release.
Police used flotation devices to assist the man. His wife tried to rescue him but could not and called 911.
Fire Department Lt. Keith Grant and firefighter Andrea Ball also assisted with the rescue. The man was taken to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport for a medical evaluation.
Evans praised first responders from both departments.
“We are very thankful for the outcome this evening and are glad we have a great working relationship between departments, as well as a great group of emergency personnel,” he said in the release.
PEABODY — A 72-year-old man was killed in a trailer park fire early Saturday morning.
Flames broke out in a trailer home on lot 24 of the Peabody Trailer Home Park at 252 Newbury St. around 5:30 a.m., Peabody Fire Chief Jay Dowling said.
Several drivers on Route 1 spotted a fire burning inside of the trailer park and called 911. Responding firefighters also saw flames coming through the roof of one of the trailers as their fire engine sped down the northbound side of the highway, Dowling said.
The trailer was fully engulfed in flames once crews arrived and the blaze was starting to reach the exterior of another trailer on lot 12, Dowling said.
Firefighters stopped the fire from fully spreading to the second trailer and knocked down the blaze within a half hour, Dowling said.
They found the man’s body inside of the destroyed trailer once the flames were doused, Dowling said.
His name is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin.
A woman who was inside of the trailer on lot 12 was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
No firefighters were injured.
The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
BEVERLY — Beverly firefighters are heading to North Carolina on Saturday to deliver donations to help victims of Hurricane Helene.
Fire Chief Pete O’Connor said the department put out a request for donations on Wednesday and got a “huge response.”
“It’s been phenomenal,” he said.
People have been dropping off items at Beverly Fire Department headquarters at 15 Hale St. over the last few days. Firefighters loaded the items onto two rental trucks and will drive them to a designated donation drop-off site at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
Donated items include clothes, fans, charcoal grills, first aid supplies, flashlights, blankets and hygiene products, among other items. Donations are being accepted until 8 p.m. Friday.
O’Connor said the relief effort was the idea of Lt. Mike Kraus. The Peabody and Danvers fire departments also became involved and collected donations.
“It was definitely a team effort,” O’Connor said.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
ROWLEY — A man using a metal detector Thursday in the state forest off Route 1 uncovered a box of explosives that authorities say had been buried there for years.
The explosives, including a box TNT, were found in a metal container near the Newbury town line, prompting the man to call Rowley police about 2:30 p.m., acting Chief Stephen May said in a release. The container also included a small amount of plastic explosives, he said.
The explosives appeared to have been in the ground for “an undetermined number of years,” the release said.
Rowley police and the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad responded to the woods and destroyed the explosives in a series of three blasts.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI also responded. The Rowley Fire Department and Action Ambulance assisted.
No one needed to be evacuated since the box was found in a remote part of town far from homes and businesses
Due to the age of the explosives and how long they were buried, authorities determined that no further investigation was needed.
