March 2019

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 307 emergency incidents during the month of March including 34 box alarms and 273 still alarms.

The department responded to six requests for mutual aid during March, three times to Melrose and once each to North Reading, Stoneham and Waltham. It received mutual aid three times in March, all three times from Lynnfield. A crew from Engine 1 under the direction of Lieutenant John Mercurio assisted the North Reading Fire Department at the scene of a 2-alarm structure fire at 38 Park Street during the morning of March 7. Acting Lieutenant John Hurley and a crew from Engine 2 covered Melrose Fire Headquarters during a fire in that city during the afternoon of March 18. Lieutenant Phil Preston led a crew from Engine 2 who assisted the Melrose Fire Department at the scene of a structure fire at 12 Cranmore Lane during the afternoon of March 19. Firefighters from Engine 2 under the command of Lieutenant Michael Long covered Stoneham Fire Headquarters during a structure fire in that community at 9 Oak Street during the evening of March 27.

Lieutenant Michael Long responded along with other members of the District 2 Hazardous Materials Response Team to 35 Gatehouse Drive in Waltham during the afternoon of March 19. The team responded to and controlled a leak involving an unknown hazardous material. The team worked quickly to contain the spilled product which was then properly disposed of by a hazardous materials clean-up contractor. One civilian was treated at the scene for exposure to the chemical and transported to an area hospital. All training and emergency incident responses related to this response team are paid for by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

All duty groups started their annual in-service pre-fire planning and safety inspection of local business during the month of March. These inspections are intended to familiarize department members with the businesses that they are inspecting, identify hazards associated with these businesses and verify emergency contact information for business owners in the event an emergency takes place after normal operating hours. All department members received training from the Wakefield Police Department in the proper use of ballistic vests and helmets purchased for them via an Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) obtained by the Town thanks to the efforts of Wakefield Emergency Management Director Thomas Walsh.

Wakefield Firefighters Patrick Farrell and Sean Gill successfully graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Recruit Training Class 271 during a brief ceremony held on the morning of March 8 at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy facility in Stow. Firefighters Farrell and Gill completed a rigorous ten-week program giving them the necessary basic skills they will need as municipal firefighters. The department welcomes Firefighters Farrell and Gill and wishes them a long and productive career in the fire service.

A troop of Girl Scouts from the Woodville School visited Wakefield Fire Headquarters during the afternoon of March 6. Cub Scouts from Packs 722 and 712 visited Wakefield Fire headquarters during the evenings of March 27 and 28 respectively.

The Wakefield Fire Department applied for a federal SAFER staffing grant from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security for $316,587 over a three year period. The purpose of this grant is to subsidize the salary and benefits of a municipal firefighter over a period of three years. Requested funding would pay for 75% of the cost of training and employing firefighter for the first two years of employment and 35% of the cost for the third year. The town assumes the full cost for the firefighter after the third year. This grant will be used, if awarded, during the next three fiscal years to defray the cost of hiring a firefighter to replace the vacancy to be created at the firefighter entry level by the appointment of a Deputy Fire Chief, which was negotiated by the town and local firefighters collective bargaining unit in the past several months and is currently undergoing an approval process. The department is hoping to be awarded this SAFER grant at some point during the summer of 2019.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report