Electrical hazard at Pittsfield General Dynamics facility prompted evacuation Monday morning

Electrical hazard at Pittsfield General Dynamics facility prompted evacuation Monday morning
Berkshire Eagle
By By Tara Monastesse, The Berkshire Eagle
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PITTSFIELD — A fire at General Dynamics Missions System facility prompted a full evacuation and power shutdown Monday morning. The fire was extinguished and Pittsfield Fire Department was investigating what caused it.

Fire officials said no injuries were reported.

Deputy Fire Chief Neil Myers said the hazard was reported at about 9 a.m. at a power distributor center in one of the facility’s main buildings. At the fire department’s request, Eversource disconnected power to the entire facility, Myers said.

Myers reported there were no injuries to either General Dynamics employees or Pittsfield Fire Department personnel.

“It’s a tough call when you get called to a place like that,” Myers said. “It’s a massive facility. Everyone was on heightened alert for sure.”

Employees outside the General Dynamics facility on 100 Plastics Ave. wait for the all-clear to return to the building after an "electrical hazard" was reported. No one was injured.

Dozens of employees could be seen outside the facility on 100 Plastics Ave., having been evacuated from the building.

It is unclear whether the incident resulted in any damage.

General Dynamics spokesman Joe Sowers told The Eagle that fire broke out shortly before 9 a.m., that all employees were evacuated and no one was hurt.

At the General Dynamics facility in Pittsfield, workers primarily manufacture advanced electrical and power distribution systems for U.S. Navy vessels.

"The Pittsfield Fire Department is on-site investigating for the proximate cause," Sowers said in a statement.

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