The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 258 emergency incidents during the month of December including 37 box alarms and 221 still alarms.
The Department responded to six mutual aid requests during December, five times to Melrose and once to Lynnfield. It did not receive any mutual aid during the month of December. Wakefield Engine 2 covered Melrose Fire headquarters during the afternoon of December 9 while that city fought a working structure fire at 26 Altamont Avenue. Captain Richard Smith along with a crew form Engine 1 assisted the Lynnfield Fire Department at a car fire on Bay State Road at about noon on December 20. A Crew from Wakefield Engine 2 under the command of Acting Lieutenant Phil Preston assisted the Melrose Fire Department at a fire on the ninth floor of the Steele House on Nason Drive during the evening of December 21.
Firefighters under the command of Captain Joseph Riley responded to a small one-room fire in a rooming house at 398 Main Street during the early morning of December 14. The fire, ignited by an unattended candle, was fortunately confined to the immediate area of the candle. Smoke from the fire quickly filled the second floor area where the room was located and had to be vented by firefighters. There were no injuries and the damage was confined to some trash and contents inside the room.
December was a tragic month for firefighters across the state as the Massachusetts fire service suffered though two line-of-duty deaths. Worcester Firefighter Jon Davies was killed in the line of duty on December 8 while operating at a building fire on Grove Street in Worcester. Firefighter Davies was killed when the building collapsed while he was searching it for trapped occupants. A little more than two weeks later Peabody Firefighter James Rice was killed while operating at a building fire in that city. The Methuen Fire Department suffered yet another tragedy when active Firefighter Robert George died suddenly while off-duty on December 21. Any one of these deaths is upsetting by itself but when combined they made for a tough month as families prepared to celebrate the upcoming holidays. The Wakefield Fire Department was well represented at both line-of-duty funerals in Worcester and Peabody and will keep the families of all three firefighters in our thoughts and prayers as we continue to serve the public in 2012.
