November 2019

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 338 emergency incidents during the month of November including 45 box alarms and 293 still alarms.

The department responded to two requests for mutual aid during November, once each to Melrose and Stoneham. It received mutual aid six times in November, four times from Reading and twice from Lynnfield. A crew from Engine 2 under Lieutenant Michael Long assisted the Stoneham Fire Department at the scene of a two-alarm house fire at 146 North Street during the afternoon of November 6.

Firefighters under the command of Captain Thomas Purcell responded to a fire alarm activation at Sabatino’s Restaurant, located at 330 Main Street during the late afternoon of November 1. Firefighters arrived within one minute to find a smoke condition inside a bathroom at the rear of the restaurant as well as the basement area and crawl space underneath it. Firefighters soon discovered a smoldering fire burning inside the wall around an exterior opening made for a drainpipe. A small pile of trash and combustibles had ignited in the exterior wall creating the smoke condition. The wall opening was widened and the fire was quickly extinguished. There was no fire extension to any other areas of the building and no injuries as a result of the fire. Smoke was quickly vented from the building once the fire was extinguished. The cause of the fire was determined to be the careless disposal of a cigarette that had been discarded and fallen into the opening adjacent to the drainpipe.

A crew from Engine 1 led by Lieutenant Dan Hancock responded to a serious motor vehicle accident with injuries on North Avenue at the route 95 bridge during the early evening of November 29. Firefighters arrived to find a five car accident that began with 2 vehicles just past the highway bridge and ended up with three more vehicles involved further down Walkers Brook Drive. Wakefield firefighters assisted crews from Reading Fire, Woburn Fire, Cataldo Ambulance, Action Ambulance and Armstrong Ambulance treating and transporting multiple injured occupants from the vehicles to area hospitals.

All duty shifts continued their in-service business safety inspections during the month of November. All groups received emergency medical training during the month of November as part of their on-going continuing education for their Emergency Medical Technicians certificates. The Department placed into service this month two new QRAE-3 multi-gas detectors purchased by the department to monitor levels of hazardous gases including sulfur-dioxide, natural gas and carbon monoxide. The detectors also monitor the level of oxygen in the air at an incident. These detectors have replaced several older units that have worn out.

An evacuation drill was conducted on November 7 for the Wakefield High School. A large group of preschool children from the Doyle Early Education Center visited Wakefield Fire Headquarters on November 18 and 19. Chief Sullivan participated in the Wakefield 101 event for new Wakefield residents at the Beebe Library held on the evening of November 21. Chief Sullivan participated in a federal Assistance to Firefighter’s Grant (AFG) workshop conducted on November 22 at Market Street in Lynnfield. The department will be applying for an AFG grant later this winter.

A committee was convened during the fall of this year to examine the town’s existing ambulance contract, scheduled to expire at the end of November. The committee consisted of police Chief Skory, Fire Chief Michael Sullivan, Emergency Manager Thomas Walsh and Town Administrator Stephen Maio. Wakefield Firefighter Gary Hill, the department’s EMS Coordinator, served as a non-voting technical advisor to the committee. The committee convened and after careful consideration, decided that it was time to place Wakefield’s ambulance contract out to bid. The contract had been held by Action Ambulance for the past 20 years and was in need of updating to reflect the changes in the industry that have occurred over that time period. A request for proposals was developed and put out to bid in September. Five ambulance companies responded with their bid requests by the required date in October. The committee reconvened and examined all five proposals. Each company was rated on their dispatch capabilities and response capabilities including their capacity to provide back-up coverage. While all of the bidding companies met the expectations specified in the bid, the committee decided that Cataldo Ambulance was best suited to provide for the town’s emergency medical response needs going forward. As a result, the town signed an agreement with Cataldo Ambulance that became effective at midnight on November 28.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report