The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 253 emergency incidents during the month of April including 36 box alarms and 217 still alarms.
The Department responded to eight mutual aid requests during April, five times to Stoneham and once each to Melrose, Reading and Saugus. During March it received mutual aid three times, twice from Melrose and once from Stoneham. Wakefield Engine 2 and a crew led by Lt. Brian Purcell responded to a working fire at 61 Stone Street in Saugus during the evening of April 7. A crew led by Lt. Robert Taggart responded to a two-alarm fire at 22 Washington Avenue in Stoneham on the afternoon of April 9. Another crew led by Lt. Taggart assisted the Stoneham Fire Department at another two-alarm fire at 16 Parkway Road the next evening. A crew with Lt. Brian Purcell responded to a House fire at 12 Cricklewood Drive in Stoneham during the evening of April 25. Lt. Thomas Purcell led a crew assisting the Melrose Fire Department at a fire in an apartment complex on Nason Drive on April 27. Finally, Lt Kevin Carney and his crew covered a vacant Stoneham fire station during the afternoon of April 30 while they were tied up at a serious accident in that town.
Wakefield firefighters under the command of Captain Paul Pronco and Lieutenant Thomas Purcell responded to a garage fire at 7 Holland Road during the afternoon of April 13. The fire started when a defect in the smoke pipe for a wood stove allowed fire to extend into the structural framing of the detached garage. There were no injuries during this incident and the fire did not extend into the nearby residence.
All four duty shifts began their re-certification classes to renew their Emergency Medical Technician certificates during the month of April. Fire drills were conducted in all public and private schools in Wakefield during the last week in April. Girl Scout troops visited Fire Headquarters at the Public Safety Building on April 8 and the Greenwood Fire Station on April 14. Department members started their annual pressure test of all fire hose on Saturdays during the month of April.
