July 2014

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 303 emergency incidents during the month of July including 33 box alarms and 270 still alarms.

The department responded to seven requests for mutual aid during July, three times to Melrose, twice to Saugus, once to Reading and once to Cambridge. It received mutual aid three times during the month of July, once each from Stoneham, Reading and Lynnfield. Crews from Engine 1 and later Engine 2 responded to Melrose and then Saugus to assist those communities with multiple simultaneous incidents after a violent thunder storm moved through the area during the early evening of July 7. A crew from Engine 2 led from by Lieutenant Christopher Smith responded to a second alarm fire in Melrose at the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital during the afternoon of July 11. Lieutenant David Shinney and a crew from Engine 2 responded to the City of Cambridge to cover a vacant station during a multiple alarm fire in that community during the early morning of July 27.

Crews under the command of Captain Randy Hudson responded to a structure fire at 7 Evergreen Street during the evening of July 11. The fire started in a concealed attic space and was attributed to an electrical malfunction in the wiring system. The fire was quickly extinguished and there were no injuries. The occupants of the residence were displaced until the necessary repairs could be made to the electrical system.

The department responded to numerous calls during a serious thunderstorm that moved through the area during the morning of July 28. The storm dropped several inches of rain throughout the area in a matter of minutes and resulted in a tornado that affected a neighborhood in Revere and Chelsea. A crew from Engine 1 rescued a stranded motorist who had stalled their car out in deep water at North Avenue and Church Street. Several residences were inundated by flooding water and had to be pumped out. The lightning from the storm tripped several fire alarm systems during the storm as well.

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 50 smoke detector inspections for the sales of homes. Construction is progressing steadily at the Galvin Middle School as the completion date for the sections of the school to be occupied in September is rapidly approaching. Construction on the large apartment complex at 14 Audubon Road is also progressing rapidly. The former Exxon station at the head of the Lake has been razed and the new gasoline tanks for the Cumberland Farms station have been installed. Numerous cutting and welding operations were monitored by the Fire Prevention Bureau during the month of July including work at the Northeast Regional Vocational School and office buildings located at 100 Quannapowitt Parkway and 107 Audubon Road. A large group of school aged children attended a visit to the Public Safety Building as part of the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Juvenile Summer Camp on July 9.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report