The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 274 emergency incidents during the month of July including 30 box alarms and 244 still alarms.
The Department responded to five mutual aid requests during July, twice to Saugus, twice to Melrose and once to Lynnfield. During July it received mutual aid twice from Stoneham. A Crew from Wakefield Engine 2 covered the Melrose Fire Headquarters during the evening of July 11 while firefighters from that community were tied up at a structure fire in that city. A crew under the command of Lt. Brian Purcell assisted the Saugus Fire department at a two-alarm fire at the Kowloon Restaurant at 948 Broadway during the afternoon of July 12. Lt. Brian Purcell and his crew returned to Saugus during the early morning hours of July 23 when a gasoline tanker overturned and burst into flames. More than 20 communities responded to the resulting eight-alarm incident that claimed the life of the tank truck driver, destroyed several buildings and numerous vehicles.
Firefighters under the command of Captain Richard Smith and Lieutenant Robert Taggart extinguished a fire at 580 Salem Street during the evening of July 13. The fire started when a portable fan unit fell onto a stuffed chair igniting it. Fortunately the building is equipped with a complete sprinkler system and the fire was controlled by the operation of a single sprinkler head located inside the living room. Fire damage was confined to the fan and chair with the room and the unit under it suffering some water damage. There were no injuries during this fire and the occupant was able to remain in the unit.
Approximately fifty children participating in the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Public Safety Academy visited Wakefield Police and Fire Headquarters at the Public Safety Building on July 13. Ladder 1 visited the YMCA summer camp at the First parish Congregational Church on July 19 much to the delight of the children in attendance. The Department received delivery of two new roof ventilation saws and a multi-gas detector as part of its Capital Outlay allocation for fiscal year 2012. Quarterly inspections of all nursing homes, schools, hotels, and boarding houses were completed during the first week of July.
