The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 275 emergency incidents during the month of October including 49 box alarms and 226 still alarms.
The Department responded to three mutual aid requests during October, twice to Saugus and once to Dunstable. The department received mutual aid seven times during the month of October, four times from Stoneham and three times from Reading. A crew under the command of Lieutenant Brian Purcell assisted the Saugus Fire Department at a fire on Winter Street during the afternoon of October 11th. Lieutenant Robert Taggart and his crew assisted the Saugus Fire Department at fire at 178 Hamilton Street during the early morning hours of October 17th. Captain Paul Pronco, firefighter Phil Rogers, and firefighter Michael Long were activated as part of the Essex County Technical Rescue Team during the morning of October 11th when a sky diver became entangled high up in a tree on Rivers street in Dunstable and needed to be rescued. This sky diver was successfully rescued in the team’s first activation since it was formed in early 2009. All training costs for members of this team are fully funded by the Northeast Homeland Security Regional Advisory Council (NERAC) through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council at no cost to the Town of Wakefield.
Crews under the command of Captain Randy Hudson responded to a structure fire at 51 New Salem Street during the morning of October 12th. The fire was caused by illegal burning in a barrel located next to a storage trailer. The fire extended inside through a hole in the wall of the trailer where it was quickly contained.
A potentially serious fire occurred at the Wakefield Memorial High School on the morning of October 25th. Firefighters led by Captain Paul Pronco responded upon receiving an automatic fire alarm activation at the school to find a fire burning in a recycling container inside room 2217. Although the fire itself was confined to the area of the recycling bin, a heavy smoke condition developed in the hallway outside the classroom requiring more than an hour to clear. Students were relocated from outside to the field house while the smoke was cleared. The fire was unfortunately deliberately set by a Wakefield High School student who has since been suspended and charged with a felony count of arson in a public place.
All department duty shifts trained with the “Jaws of Life” on techniques in automobile accident extrication during the month of October. The Essex County Technical Rescue Team trained at Fire headquarters on October 22nd and 25th, where they drilled with the confined space manhole prop located on the front ramp of the fire station.
The department continued to conduct fire drills in each public and private school in Wakefield during the month of October. Evacuation drills were conducted at the Galvin Middle School, Dolbeare School, Northeast Regional Vocational School, Odyssey Day School and Wakefield High School during the month of October. The Metrofire Regional Fire Safety house was towed to every elementary school in Wakefield during the last two weeks of October. This fire safety education is very popular with the school children but will be discontinued unless a funding source is identified to pay for it. The North Suburban Family Network visited fire headquarters as well on October 2nd.
Children from Cantebury Children’s Center visited Fire Headquarters on October 5th and 6th and Greenwood School kindergarteners visited the Greenwood fire Station on October 13th, 18th, and 26th. Several groups of Girls Scouts toured the Public Safety Building on October 22nd.
