The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 294 emergency incidents during the month of October including 51 box alarms and 243 still alarms.
The department had no requests for mutual aid during October. It received mutual aid two times in October, once from Reading and once from Lynnfield.
All four groups continue to receive emergency medical training toward their continuing education requirements for emergency medical technician. Wakefield firefighters received refresher training on the proper use of the Hurst tool (Jaws of Life) and air bags. The Wakefield Fire Department conducted fire drills in all public and private schools during the month of October. School multi-hazard evacuation drills were conducted at Odyssey school, Wakefield High School, the Dolbeare School and the Northeast Regional Vocational School during the month of October.
Ladder 1 visited the Children’s Center at 483 Water Street during the morning of October 9. Preschool children from the Canterbury children’s center visited Wakefield fire headquarters during the mornings of October 16 and 17. Kindergarten classes from the Greenwood Elementary School visited the Greenwood Fire station on October 18 and October 30. A group from the North Suburban Child and Family Resource Network visited headquarters on October 27.
Hurricane Sandy hit the State of Massachusetts hard on October 29, knocking down numerous trees and power lines. The Wakefield Fire Department and Police Departments worked closely with crews from the Department of Public Works and the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department to keep the streets open and accessible and the power on. Although there were several scattered power outages during the storm, all but a few households had power restored within a few hours. There were no reported injuries or citizens displaced as a result of this storm. The value of having its own power company once again worked in the best interest of Wakefield residents as thousands of electric customers throughout the state experienced multiple day power outages. Wakefield executed its emergency plans for Hurricane Sandy flawlessly and all Wakefield residents should be proud of the way their town employees pulled together and handled this storm.
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck the New England area on October 16 at 7:12 P.M. Fortunately there was no damage reported and no injuries related to this restively rare event.
