August 2014

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 276 emergency incidents during the month of August including 20 box alarms and 256 still alarms.

The department responded to nine requests for mutual aid during August, four times to Lynnfield, three times to Saugus and once each to Reading and Chelsea. It received mutual aid one times during the month of August from Reading. A crew from Engine 2 led from by Lieutenant David Shinney responded to a second alarm fire at 340 Haven Street in Reading during the early evening of August 10. Lieutenant Philip Preston and a crew from Engine 2 responded to a five-alarm fire at 253 Arlington Street in the City of Chelsea involving six homes during the early evening of August 31.

The summer months of 2014 continue to be an exceptionally busy period for the Fire Prevention Bureau. Demolition operations of the old Galvin Middle School are well underway. The department conducted approximately 40 smoke detector inspections for the sales of homes. The classroom, cafeteria and administrative sections of the Galvin Middle School successfully passed their final inspections. Construction is well underway for the Auditorium section and the Gymnasium and adjoining classrooms will be completed during the upcoming school year. The 178 unit apartment complex at 14 Audubon Road successfully passed its final inspection of the first 62 units with the remaining units scheduled to be finished before the end of the year.

The department closely monitored activities during the Italian Festival on August 23, which drew a large crowd of pedestrians into the downtown areas around main and Albion Streets. A fireworks display was conducted later that evening as a rain date for the Fourth of July display that had been cancelled earlier this summer due to bad weather.

Wakefield Firefighters Nathan Bleu and Darren Stead graduated from Class 216 of the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Recruit Training Program on August 29. Firefighters Bleu and Stead completed a nine-week training program which included live fire training evolutions. This training, offered to the Commonwealth’s firefighters free of charge to the communities, is something that can not be duplicated on a local level. The department wishes Firefighters Bleu and Stead a long and productive career in the fire service.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report