October 2020

The Wakefield Fire Department responded to 326 emergency incidents during the month of October including 33 box alarms and 294 still alarms. The department responded to six requests for mutual aid during October, three times to Lynnfield, twice to Stoneham and once to Peabody. The department received mutual aid twenty times during the month of October, four times from Lynnfield, twice each from Malden, Reading and Stoneham and once each from Burlington, Lynn, Melrose, North Reading, Peabody, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Winchester and Woburn. A crew from Engine 2 under Lieutenant Robert Taggart covered Stoneham Fire Headquarters during an extensive brush fire in that community during the afternoon of October 10. Wakefield Firefighter Steven Bivens responded as a member of the Northeast Massachusetts Technical Rescue Team to 5 Allens Lane in the City of Peabody during the afternoon of October 17 to assist the Peabody Fire Department with a confined space rescue. Peabody Firefighters managed to remove the injured party before the rescue team was fully assembled. Members of the Northeast Massachusetts Technical Rescue Team have their training compensated for by the State of Massachusetts. A crew from Engine 2 led by Lieutenant Sean Curran covered Stoneham Fire headquarters during a structure fire in that community at 144 Marble Street in that community on October 20.

Firefighters under the command of Captain John Walsh responded to a report of a structure fire at 1 New Salem Street at approximately 2:45 A.M. on the morning of October 2. Firefighters arrived to find the front section of the building fully involved in flames and Captain Walsh ordered a second alarm. Firefighters were hampered in their attempts to extinguish the fire as the building was constructed with a corrugated steel exterior with very few doors or windows. The water supply available in the area was not sufficient to extinguish a fire of this magnitude on the property so subsequent third, fourth and fifth alarms were struck by Chief Sullivan to bring additional engines to the scene to set up a relay pumping system to bring in additional water from hydrants on Water, Vernon and Pleasant Streets. Heavy equipment was also called to the scene in the form of a front-end loader to tear down some of the corrugated metal siding so that firefighters could gain access to the seat of the fire. The fire was brought under control at approximately 5:10 AM. The communities of Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Saugus, Stoneham, Winchester and Woburn sent apparatus to the fire while Burlington, Revere and Peabody covered the vacant Wakefield stations. A team of fire investigators from the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s office as well as Wakefield Police and Fire investigators conducted an extensive investigation of the property. The official cause of the fire remains undetermined. The entire front section of the building along with its contents was completely destroyed while the remainder of the building suffered heavy smoke and water damage. Property loss from the fire is expected to be well in excess of $1 million.

All department members participated in both on-line training and instructor led programs related to their continuing education requirements for Emergency Medical Technician. The final two duty groups participated in a practical training evolution at Howe’s tow yard involving vehicle extrication techniques. Several groups participated in training evolutions at two single family homes on Salem Street scheduled to be demolished in the near future. All duty groups continue to conduct in-service fire prevention inspections of local businesses. These inspections are necessary to keep citizens working in these businesses safe and help to keep emergency contacts for these businesses accurate. The Fire Prevention Bureau conducted an inspection of the suppression systems for the gasoline self-service stations at 493 Salem Street and 950 Main Street during the month of October. A new fire sprinkler system installed at the Doyle School, 11 Paul Avenue, successfully passed its final inspection on October 29. This sprinkler system is an important fire protection project advocated by the Wakefield Fire Department to provide an increased level of protection to the preschool-aged children attending the Doyle School.

The department continues to receive federal aid in the form of grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The department secured a 2019 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant in the amount of $1.1 Million to fully fund the salary and fringe benefits for four additional full-time firefighters for the Town of Wakefield for a period of three years. This SAFER grant is in addition to a 2018 SAFER grant already awarded to the town to staff one full-time firefighter for salary and benefits at a 75% level for two years and a 35% level for the third and final year for a total of $195,229 in federal aid. A third federal grant in the form of a 2019 Covid-19 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) in the amount of $4,500 will reimburse the department for some of the costs it incurred for medial equipment supplies related to the Covid-19 Pandemic. A 2019 AFG grant for $10, 910 will fund 90% of the training costs for an instructor led program regarding the use of the Firefighter Personal Escape Systems (bail-out kits) that would permit them to quickly exit a fire building via an exterior window. The department has utilized these kits for almost a decade and department members are due for refresher training in their proper use.

Incident Response Report

Fire Prevention Report