The North Brookfield Board of Selectmen accepted a citation from the Amherst Town Council recognizing the town's mutual-aid response to the Nov. 7 fires at 47 and 57 Olympia Drive in Amherst.

Chair read the citation into the record, which described the incident and mutual aid: “This massive fire was reported at 08:20PM ... displacing 236 residents” and noted that “members of the town of Amherst Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded immediately” and that “32 communities responded with 40 vehicles.” The board moved to accept the citation and members voiced appreciation for the town's responders.

A North Brookfield firefighter who deployed to Amherst described the response: he said crews left after a 04:00 call, ‘We did like a 12 hour shift,’ and that North Brookfield crews helped hold the scene, protect adjacent buildings and apply hot-spot suppression while demolition crews worked. He noted the University of Massachusetts provided housing and support for displaced students.

The citation and the responder account underscore the scale of regional cooperation during the incident and the role of North Brookfield personnel in the mutual-aid response.