May 2025

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 351 emergency incidents during the month of May 2025 including 51 box alarms and 300 still alarms. The department responded to four requests for mutual aid during May, two times to Reading and once each to Lynnfield and Malden. The department received mutual aid once during May from Melrose. Firefighters from Engine 1 covered a vacant Reading fire station during an extended incident in that community during the evening of May 2. Firefighters from Engine 1 led by Lieutenant Gary Hill covered Reading Fire from Engine 2 under the direction of Lieutenant Michael Long covered a vacant Malden fire station during a 3-alarm fire in that city during the afternoon of May 28.

Firefighters under the command of Captain John Walsh responded to 401 Edgewater Drive at approximately 11:45 A.m.on May 10 after they were notified by a detail firefighter on scene of a possible roof fire at that location. On arrival at the scene, the detail firefighter alerted department members that sparks from a grinding operation on the roof had ignited some foam board insulation. The detail firefighter had extinguished any visible fire using a portable fire extinguisher but require assistance confirming that the fire had not extended and was completely out. The area above the sixth-floor ceiling as well as the underside of the roof deck was checked with thermal cameras confirming that the fire was in fact completely extinguished. The detail remained on scene and continued to monitor the hot work without any further issues. This incident demonstrates the value of an on-site fire detail to monitor hot work operations as a much more serious fire could have occurred had there been no detail and the fire spread undetected.

Department members continued Emergency Medical Technician training classes as part of their annual continuing education requirements. Quarterly fire inspections were conducted during May of all schools, nursing homes, hotels and boarding houses. Several groups conducted practical training on the proper operation of ATV vehicles including a hands-on course put together at Camp Curtis Guild in Reading. The Department of Fire Services conducted a class on Fire Tactics and Strategies for the company Officer on May 23. All department groups toured the new energy storage park located on Hemlock Road between the new High School and the new Vocational School during the month of May. Children attending the Doyle preschool center assisted the crew from Engine l wash their fire truck while they visited the school on May 28.

The department hung an American flag across main Street near the Most Blessed Sacrament Church, with the assistance of the Melrose Fire Department, during the Boston Wounded Warrior bike run on May 18. The department also participated in the annual Town Memorial Day service held on May 26 and the rededication service for the Civil War Monument held on May 31.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report