AMHERST — Homecoming at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College, and Halloween activities, including sanctioned events and others organized organically to celebrate the holiday, are expected to increase the town’s population and possibly drive up emergency calls.
Amherst’s public safety departments are preparing as best they can for what Fire Chief Tim Nelson calls a “perfect storm” as October comes to a close.
“We’re anticipating there’s a potential for high activity over the weekend,” Nelson said.
Police Chief Scott Livingstone, too, said he anticipates a significant number of calls that his officers will need to be dispatched to. “It will be busy, extremely busy,” Livingstone said.
Part of the likelihood of more 911 calls and responses is simply the nature of having more people in town, with many visitors expected to swell the population beyond those of the permanent and student residents. One draw is the inauguration of new Amherst College President Michael Elliott on Friday, and there will also be football games on Saturday, at Amherst College, where the Mammoths will take on Little Three foe Wesleyan at 1 p.m., and at UMass, which kicks off against New Mexico State at 3:30 p.m.
For the Fire Department, there will be added staff throughout Saturday evening into Sunday morning, the culmination of a 38-hour period with 11 firefighter/ paramedics on duty, above the minimum of eight required on a weekend. That will allow three ambulances to be in service, and for the department to also staff two paramedic-level fire trucks.
While alcohol consumption may go up with Halloween and for football tailgating, similar to what occurred during Family Weekend two weeks ago, Nelson said the number of emergency calls is a function mostly of more people being out and about, and is not caused by college students specifically.
“There’s going to be a lot of people in town and there’s a lot of things going on that will attract a lot of people,” Nelson said.
He added that the department is on track to break records for medical and service calls, based on what was observed in September.
Livingstone said he would normally have a large number of officers patrolling the streets, but with a diminished staffing level will have those on duty focused mostly on handling emergencies.
Many officers, he said, have been working well beyond their assigned hours to keep the community safe.
“Officers have worked an abnormally large number of overtime hours at this point this fall, so yes, we ask for people to be patient for non-emergency calls,” Livingstone said.
Nelson said folks should be aware that Amherst isn’t a small town.
“Amherst has all the challenges of a small city, and we have to rise to meet those challenges,” Nelson said. “As I’ve said before, we’re on the field, so we might as well play the game.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
