October 2019

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 373 emergency incidents during the month of October including 51 box alarms and 322 still alarms.

The department responded to six requests for mutual aid during October, four times to Melrose and once each to Reading and Stoneham. It received mutual aid eight times in October, five times from Stoneham and once each from Lynnfield, Melrose and Reading. A crew from Engine 2 under Lieutenant Christopher Crogan assisted the Stoneham Fire department at the scene of a structure fire at 16 Flint Avenue during the afternoon of October 12. Lieutenant John Mercurio led a crew from Engine 1 that covered Reading Fire Headquarters during a structure fire at 75 Cross Street in that community during the early morning of October 17.

Wakefield has hit by a significant wind storm during the evening of October 16-17 and the following day. The department responded to numerous call for assistance for wires arcing in trees, downed wires and downed trees. Firefighters under the command of Captain Randy Hudson responded to a residence at 47 Montrose Avenue shortly after 3 A.M. when a resident there reported an odor of smoke inside the home. Firefighters quickly determined that a tree had fallen in the yard partially pulling the electrical service away from the home and in the process causing the electrical wiring in it to overheat and arc. The Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department responded and disconnected power to the residence. Firefighters checked the home with thermal imaging cameras and determined that the damage did not extend beyond the home’s electrical wiring.

Captain Thomas Purcell led firefighters responding to a reported fire at 105 Hopkins Street during the early afternoon of October 18. Firefighters discovered a fire burning in the wall of an outside balcony to one of the second floor units and quickly extinguished it with a hose line. The entire area of the balcony in the vicinity of the fire was opened up and checked to make sure that the fire did not extend beyond this area. There were no injuries to either firefighters or building occupants and no one was displaced as a result of the fire. The cause of the fire was determined to the careless disposal of a cigarette that had been discarded on the balcony.

The department participated in a variety of rescue-related calls during the month of October. Firefighters under Captain Randy Hudson extricated several occupants from a stalled elevator at the Colonial Point Apartments on October 12. Group 3 firefighters led by Captain Thomas Purcell freed a man whose hand was trapped between the wheel well and tire of a vehicle on October 13. Firefighters under the command of Captain Brian Purcell removed seven occupants from a stalled elevator at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel on October 17. Crews led by Captain Paul Pronco assisted several occupants of a capsized catamaran on Lake Quannapowitt during the late afternoon of October 18. The boat had overturned and become stuck in the mud at the bottom of the lake. Firefighters launched the Boston Whaler fire boat and assisted the boater right the catamaran and towing it to the boat ramp at Veteran’s Field.

All duty shifts continued their in-service business safety inspections during the month of October. Department members received training in October in proper emergency vehicle extrication techniques used for saving removing trapped occupants involved in motor vehicle crash. All groups received emergency medical training during the month of October as part of their on-going continuing education for their Emergency Medical Technicians certificates. Department members received training on the proper use and maintenance of 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 will replace several of the current ones that have worn out.

Fire drills were conducted in all Wakefield public and private schools during the month of October. Evacuation drills were also conducted in October for the Woodville, Greenwood, Walton, Dolbeare, Doyle and Vocational Schools. A large group of children from the Canterbury Preschool visited Wakefield Fire Headquarters on October 10 and 11. Kindergarten children from the Greenwood Elementary School visited the Greenwood Fire Station on October 25.

Chief Sullivan participated in a table-top exercise at the Genesis at Wakefield Nursing Home facility on Bathol Street in Greenwood that reviewed the steps necessary to shelter its patients in place during a simulated chemical spill in the neighborhood. Chief Sullivan also participated in an evacuation drill at the Brightview Senior Assisted Living Facility on October 24. During this drill the entire population of Brightview residents was evacuated to the front lawn to allow employees to review and practice the necessary steps related to that emergency procedure. Both drills were successful and increased the staff’s preparedness to handle emergencies involving a partial or total evacuation of their facilities.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report