June 2017

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 312 emergency incidents during the month of June including 36 box alarms and 276 still alarms.

The department responded to eight requests for mutual aid during June, three times to Melrose, and once each to Lynnfield, Reading, Revere, Saugus and Stoneham. It received mutual aid once from Lynnfield during June. A crew from Engine 1 consisting of Lieutenant Phil Preston, Firefighter Jonathan O’Brien and firefighter James DeMartino assisted the Reading Fire Department at the scene of a 6-alarm fire at 52 Sanborn Street during the afternoon and evening of May 1. This fire involved a former school building converted into a 40-unit condominium building, resulting in a response from more than a dozen different departments and over a hundred firefighters before finally being extinguished some twelve hours after its discovery. A crew from Engine 2 led by Lieutenant Michael Long covered a vacant Revere fire station during a 4-alarm fire in that community during the morning of June 13. Firefighters from Engine 2 under Lieutenant Robert Taggart assisted the Melrose Fire Department at the scene of a 3-alarm fire at 62 Goss Avenue during the afternoon of June 18. A crew from Engine 1 led by Lieutenant John Walsh covered a vacant Lynnfield fire station during a working fire in that community on the evening of June 23. Firefighter from Engine 2 under the command of Lieutenant Robert Taggart assisted the Melrose Fire department at the scene of a 2-alarm fire at 80 Grove Street during the afternoon of June 26. A crew from ladder 1 led by Lieutenant John Mercurio assisted the Stoneham fire at the scene of a 2-alarm fire at 178 Park Street during the evening of June 28.

Wakefield firefighters from Groups 1 and 4 participated in a class on Rapid Intervention Teams sponsored by the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy on June 5 through the 8 at the Hurd School. This class teaches firefighters various techniques needed to rescue downed firefighters trapped inside a structure fire. Firefighters conducted a variety of practical exercises aimed at locating a firefighter using their Passive alert safety system, which activates when a firefighter is motionless for longer than 30 seconds, and removing the firefighter from the building. Multiple skills including carries, drags, corridor searches, large area searches, and firefighter removals from stairways and windows were demonstrated and practiced. This class will be repeated in the fall for the remaining two duty shifts.

All four groups participated in a second training on June 12 through 15 on Truck Company Operations conducted by On Scene Training Associates out of New Jersey. Firefighters completed many practical evolutions including portables ladder raises and carries as well as victim rescue techniques. Various ventilation and search technique are also practiced. Evolutions involving rotary saw operations and forcible entry were also conducted.

Veteran Wakefield Firefighter Daniel Marsinelli retired from the department on June 21 after more than 28 years of service. Firefighter Marsinelli was appointed a permanent Firefighter on January 26, 1989. He was a member of the Massachusetts District 2 Hazardous Materials Response Team and was the senior firefighter on Group 4 at the time of his retirement. Firefighter Marsinelli received a Medal of Valor from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services as well as a local department commendation for his actions along with Captain David Myette (at that time a Lieutenant) for finding and removing an unconscious woman from a smoke-filled hallway during a serious apartment fire at Rockledge Apartments on Bartley Street during the early morning hours of December 20, 1997. Marsinelli also safely escorted an additional three occupants outside during that same fire. The department wishes Firefighter Marsinelli a long and healthy retirement.

The department’s new 1250 gallon-per-minute pumper continues to be outfitted with a radio and other assorted equipment at the Fleetmaster’s facility on Water Street. It has been lettered and detailed and will make an appearance in the town’s annual Fourth of July parade. The new engine is awaiting the installation of additional equipment and will be placed into service in late July once department members receive the necessary training in the proper use of its pump. The new engine will become engine 1 and will be quartered at fire headquarters on Union Street. It has been named the Lucius Beebe Number 1 in honor of the town’s first engine 1 that was in service with the town from 1882 to 1907. The present engine 1 will be renumbered to engine 5 and used as a ready reserve engine at fire headquarters.

All four duty shifts continued their emergency medical training as part of the ongoing continuing education as Emergency Medical Technicians. All groups continue to train with the department’s two fire boats. Kindergarten Children from the Dolbeare and Woodville schools assisted firefighters in washing the truck when it visited those schools on June 2 and 16 respectively.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report