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Mass. brush fires by the numbers: Over 125 ignited in last week

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Mass. brush fires by the numbers: Over 125 ignited in last week


Massachusetts remains subject to a brush fire warning, the Department of Fire Services said Tuesday, as hundreds of acres burn across the state and a smoky haze continues to hang over many local communities.

Within the past week, 126 separate brush fires have burned a total of 548 acres in Massachusetts, a DFS spokesperson told the State House News Service. That includes the fires that have scorched up to 133 acres in Salem and more than 200 acres in Middleton as of Tuesday morning.

On Monday night, with 47 active burns, DFS issued the brush fire warning which calls on Bay Staters to avoid outdoor cooking and heating; be careful with lawnmowers, leafblowers, and other equipment whose engines can become hot; extinguish cigarettes and other smoking materials in an ashtray with water or sand; and abide by an existing prohibition on open burning through January.

The same cautions remain in place Tuesday, DFS spokesperson Jake Wark told the News Service, as weather conditions have not changed significantly.

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“We’re still in dry, breezy weather which will encourage an outdoor fire, and unfortunately help it to spread — often to dangerous sizes,” Wark said.

Smoke continues to blow across the greater Boston area from brush fires in the area, but rain chances Tuesday night should improve conditions. Here’s your First Alert forecast.

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The Salem and Middleton fires, together with other blazes in Wilmington and Canton, have resulted in activations of the statewide Fire Mobilization Plan, Wark said. All four fires have occurred between last Friday and Tuesday.

“It’s a way of organizing firefighting resources and bringing them across the region,” Wark said of the mobilization plan for larger fires, “so we have firefighters from, say, Lexington and Groton going to Salem, so that local and regional firefighters aren’t overwhelmed. They can continue to handle the day-to-day fires in their communities.”

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Most of the state is either “abnormally dry” or in a state of moderate drought, according to the most recent maps released last week by the U.S. Drought Monitor.





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Massachusetts

Dangerousness hearing held for Taunton man in Fall River after Massachusetts, Rhode Island State Police make trafficking arrest involving Bristol, Plymouth, RI counties

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Dangerousness hearing held for Taunton man in Fall River after Massachusetts, Rhode Island State Police make trafficking arrest involving Bristol, Plymouth, RI counties


A dangerousness hearing was held Friday for a Bristol County man after a drug trafficking investigation led to his arrest.

According to Massachusetts State Police, during May and June of this year, members of the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team – South initiated an investigation into narcotics trafficking. Intelligence revealed that 33-year-old Jason Hodo of Taunton was distributing trafficking quantities of fentanyl and cocaine in Rhode Island and throughout Plymouth and Bristol Counties in Massachusetts. Investigators completed extensive traditional and covert surveillance, record checks, and intelligence analysis. The investigation led to warrants being sought and granted to search for all controlled substances at all locations related to Hodo.

In June, executing officers followed Hodo in his vehicle after he departed the Rhode Island location and drove to a Taunton gas station. Hodo was detained, searched, and arrested after amounts of fentanyl and cocaine were located. Members then executed the “knock and announce” search warrants without incident at locations in both states.

The searches in Massachusetts led to the seizure of approximately 528 grams of fentanyl, 206 grams of cocaine, and nearly $22,000 from Hodo’s person and vehicle. Hodo was eventually transported to State Police-Middleboro for booking on charges related to Trafficking Class A and Class B Substances.

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A simultaneous search of the Rhode Island location by Rhode Island State Police revealed the following: two firearms loaded with high-capacity magazines, approximately 12 grams of fentanyl, nearly $19,000, several high value bars of gold, jewelry, and a diamond/gold chain with receipt for $103,000.

Previously in Fall River Superior Court, Hodo pled not guilty at his arraignment and was held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday.

On Friday, also in Fall River Superior Court, dangerousness was taken under advisement with Hodo still held without bail.

His next scheduled court appearance is a pre-trial conference in February.

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Mass. State Lottery winner: Lucky store sold 6 winning tickets Friday

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Mass. State Lottery winner: Lucky store sold 6 winning tickets Friday


It was the final day of the fall, but for one store in Arlington, it was their luckiest day of the year.

On Friday, Dec. 20, Peter Pan Superette in Arlington sold six winning Keno tickets, each worth $9,600.

While over the course of the year the store has at times sold two winners in one day, Friday was the only time in 2024 the total grew to six.

Overall, at least 565 worth $600 or more were won or claimed in Massachusetts on Friday, including six in Springfield, 29 in Worcester and 42 in Boston.

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The Massachusetts State Lottery releases a full list of winning tickets every day. The list only includes winning tickets worth more than $600.

So far, the largest lottery prize won in Massachusetts this year was worth $1 million a year for life.

The prize was from the lottery’s “Lifetime Millions” scratch ticket game. The winner claimed their prize through a trust on July 10, and opted to receive a one-time payment of $15.4 million.



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How much snow in Massachusetts? Here are the storm totals for December 20

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How much snow in Massachusetts? Here are the storm totals for December 20



Next Weather: WBZ Update

03:57

BOSTON – More than five inches of snow fell in several towns in eastern Massachusetts on Friday. Boston picked up 4.4″ of snow, one of the biggest snowfalls in almost three years. 

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Here are the latest snow totals from the National Weather Service, Rob Macedo, the SKYWARN Coordinator for the National Weather Service in Taunton, and WBZ-TV Weather Watchers.  

Norwood 6.0 inches
Dedham 6.0
Walpole 5.5
Needham 5.5
Danvers 5.3
Topsfield 5.0
Cambridge 4.9
Newton 4.5
Boston 4.4
Randolph 4.0
Foxboro 4.0
Milford 3.2
Rehoboth 3.2
Millville 3.0
North Attleboro 2.0
West Yarmouth 2.0
Worcester 1.0



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