“The injured jumper landed on airport property under a fully functioning parachute,” Jumptown said in a statement, according to WBZ-TV.

The Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause of death. The Northwestern District Attorney’s office is investigating the incident.

Who was Robert Szabo ?

Robert Szabo was an experienced skydiver. He was injured during an October 4 jump from a Jumptown Skydiving plane and died three days later, according to Orange Fire Chief James Young.

Also read: BTS: V says ‘I’m cool one too’ as he tries indoor sky-diving in US to ‘pluck clouds’, goes golfing later. Watch

A longtime member of the Connecticut Parachutists skydiving club, Szabo had extensive experience in the sport. Following a medical evaluation, doctors concluded that his condition was beyond recovery, and he was subsequently removed from life support.

Szabo was part of the staff at Connecticut Parachutists in Ellington, where he was known for his unique personality and dedication. In a statement, the club reflected on his impact, recalling both his dry wit and his unwavering generosity,“He gave his time, his patience, and his talent freely. He’ll be deeply missed,” according to ABC news report.

In 2022, a skydiver affiliated with Jumptown sustained injuries after his parachute malfunctioned, leading to a forceful landing atop a building.

Emergency crews in Orange regularly conduct training exercises with Jumptown to stay prepared for incidents related to skydiving.

At the time, the local fire department noted that while serious accidents at Jumptown are uncommon. According to the Greenfield Recorder, this marks the second fatality connected to Jumptown in under ten years. The previous occurred in 2018, when 27-year-old Alexis Zayas of New York fatally collided with a barn after deviating from the intended landing path.

Orange is located over 70 miles west of Boston, and lies roughly 10 miles south of the New Hampshire state line.

A fire destroyed a barn and garage Lancaster, Massachusetts Friday afternoon.

The fire started shortly before 4:45 p.m. at a barn on North Shirley Road. Heavy black smoke from the fire was visible from several miles away as firefighters responded.

When firefighters arrived, Chief Jon Belanger said they saw the fire had spread to a small garage nearby, which had almost completely burned to the ground.

A veterinarian also responded to the scene because there was six horses in the barn at the time of the fire. All six either made it out or were rescued but one of the horses had to be euthanized. Belanger said there was also “multiple fowls” around the barn but they weren’t injured in the fire.

Both buildings were deemed a total loss, estimated to be between $250,000 and $300,000. In addition to the fire destroying both buildings, multiple pieces of farm equipment, tools and tack were lost. An excavator was called in to raise the remains of the barn as the charred remains were deemed unstable and unsafe.

Multiple fire departments responded to the fire, including crews from Lancaster, Boylston, Leominster, Bolton, Harvard, Clinton, Sterling and Berlin. The scene was cleared by 9 p.m. Friday night.

No one was hurt in the fire. The cause of the fire remains under investigation but Belanger said it does not appear to be intentional.

Lancaster is a town in Worcester County and is located about 50 miles west of Boston.

Massachusetts is not “in the vanguard” when it comes to addressing toxic “forever chemicals,” according to the Senate sponsor of a bill meant to help municipalities and water systems clean up related contamination.

It’s the second time House Speaker Pro Tempore Kate Hogan and Senate Assistant Majority Whip Julian Cyr have filed legislation that would phase out the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of chemicals that do not break down fully in the environment and are linked to harmful health issues like thyroid disease, liver damage, some cancers and immune system suppression.

The bills gained favorable reports last session from the Joint Committee on Public Health and Health Care Financing, but died in House Ways and Means Committee last session.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that more than 99% of people in the U.S. have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood, according to Laurel Schaider, a senior scientist at Newton-based Silent Spring Institute who spoke at a State House briefing on Thursday.

PFAS are often used in nonstick, stain-resistant, waterproof and grease-resistant products. Well owners and users, farmers and firefighters from across Massachusetts have testified before the Legislature in recent years and gathered at the State House Thursday to discuss the illnesses and other issues that have resulted from water and soil contaminated with PFAS and firefighting gear designed with PFAS in it.

“I think there’s two hurdles here. One is that we’re talking about complex policy related to environmental science, and the more that we learn about PFAS, the more we understand its ubiquity,” Cyr told the News Service. “As you build a statutory and then a regulatory scheme around it, this isn’t easy policymaking.”

A group of common items with and without per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in them, displayed at the State House briefing.

The Legislature in 2024 passed a few measures, according to Hogan, including those phasing out PFAS in firefighter protective gear and increasing funds to MassDEP to provide support for PFAS testing.

Other lawmakers have filed varying forms of legislation this session aiming to address different PFAS-related issues. A delegation of Massachusetts lawmakers visited Maine in August in an attempt to better understand how the state tackled contamination caused by PFAS specifically related to sewage sludge on farms.

“Massachusetts, we like to be in the vanguard of public health, of environmental health and safety. We are no longer in the vanguard. I think there are 13 or 14 other states that have passed some form of legislation related to PFAS. So we’re losing ground a bit,” Cyr said.

Alaska, New Jersey and New Hampshire also recently passed laws specifically addressing PFAS used in firefighting equipment. States including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont have passed varying laws phasing out the use of PFAS.