Most of us have heard of the Bermuda Triangle. As someone with an above-average memory, I usually recall when and where I first heard something, and who said it. It was in the mid 70s, and I was riding shotgun with my mother somewhere in the city, but not necessarily on Amherst St. She said it’s a place where most planes crash and most boats sink. Just a kid, I knew little about variables and manipulating data, but I certainly had questions. You’re free to do an internet search on what one might call folklore or an urban legend.
I haven’t so much as even thought about the Bermuda Triangle in a very long time. Then Beth Scaer, who regularly sends me “Hey, did you see this?” messages with links to Nashua current events, sent me a WMUR link called “Car crashes through walls of physical therapy clinic in Nashua.” In it she said “Ward 2.” Having been a patient at the PT practice in the Gold’s Gym plaza, I opened the link to see if it was them, operating under a new name, because the picture didn’t look familiar… at first! I knew that the property had to have an even number because my old workplace, Comcast, was at 460. Then I saw the address in the article listed as 495, which caught my attention because that building burned down on 9/30/22, and I took lots of pictures of the fire and the firemen hard at work. There was a lengthy investigation that left the wreckage standing, with a temporary chain-link fence surrounding it, and delayed construction of its replacement. I would regularly ask Hon. Tom Lanzara, a firefighter, what was going on, but the new building was not ready to occupy for over a year. Now one of its tenant businesses has been victimized by a rogue crash.
I looked at the picture and noticed that it was the end unit furthest from Thornton Rd. Before the fire, that unit was home to an Asian market next to Ciao Pizza. Following the fire, there was a rumor that the point of origin was in the Asian market, but I never fact-checked that. Epicenter of a modern day Nashua Bermuda Triangle? Let’s discuss some other nearby incidents.
Last month, just a block away, there was an explosion at 440 Amherst St. When it was breaking news, the very limited info said 3 firemen were injured, so I quickly sent Tom a “welfare check text” and was relieved by his prompt reply that he had been called into work. He is stationed at the airport. Let’s talk about a neighborhood aviation disaster.
On 12/17/25, a plane crashed into Cannongate, which is also on Amherst St. It’s near the 7-11 jug handle, but also in Ward 2. Lucky for the pilot, he lived and there were no passengers, but some of the residents of Cannongate were displaced. Let’s move on to the matter of cyclist safety.
Attorney Coughlin’s predecessor and the current Registry of Deeds guy, Dennis Hogan, was hit by a car in front of Building 19. He was cycling home from his law office, so aptly located at 491 Amherst St. His terrible misfortune happened shortly after the fire at 495 Amherst St. Dennis was hospitalized for 10 days and discharged in time for a General Bolduc town hall at Charlotte School the Saturday before the election, and he let me take his picture. The good news to share is that he found a good surgeon and now looks like he never had that trauma.
Still regarding cyclists getting hit by cars, there was an incident in front of the 7-11 across from 495 Amherst St. On 1/13/14, the UPS man came to my workplace and reported being stuck in traffic and having a front row view of the victim being loaded into the ambulance. Kevin Johnson later died of his injuries and the media said solar glare was to blame. Was it? Perhaps.
Dennis Hogan said a distracted teenager was driving the car that hit him. What caused the plane crash? I suppose one could do a FoIA inquiry to the NTSB, seeing that Attorney Bolton and the mayor don’t control federal RTK responses. What about the fires at 495 and 440 Amherst St? Their causes would be known by the fire marshal’s office, I suppose. That info should be available under 91A, also not gatekept by Attorney Bolton or the mayor. About that text alert that went to all of Hillsborough County instead of just recipients in or near the area following the explosion at 440 Amherst Street, I remember that an investigation was launched though I don’t remember much attention given to any follow-up other than an attention-seeking Ink Link article by Ms Melanie Levesque. You don’t think I would miss an opportunity to mention her, do you?
We all know how much the Dems and the Trump haters like to blame Trump for things that he is clearly NOT responsible for. Let’s indulge in their playbook, just for now, because all the incidents I mentioned were in Ward 2, and guess who has been in office all this time! Alderman Dowd. He’s certainly responsible for a lot of other suffering across the city, but let’s pin the Nashua Bermuda Triangle on him.
