Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Purcell reports the Wakefield Fire Department extinguished a two-alarm fire at a vacant commercial building located at 472 Main Street, in the early morning hours of Friday, September 1.
At approximately 4:39 a.m., Capt. John Walsh, who was shift commander, arrived first at 472 Main St., and encountered smoke showing. Capt. Walsh called a working fire at 4:39 a.m., and struck a second alarm at 4:44 a.m., bringing additional companies from Melrose, Stoneham, Reading, North Reading and Lynnfield to the scene.
Deputy Chief Purcell assumed command of the incident at 4:47 a.m., with Captain Walsh taking command of fire-ground operations. Heavy smoke and heat conditions hampered companies from finding the seat of the fire.
The building consisted of multiple vacant storefronts, offices, and storage spaces which were extremely dilapidated. Companies eventually found the fire in a sub-basement which had no access. The building was ventilated, and companies made multiple trench cuts through the first floor to gain access to the basement fire. Additional mutual aid companies from Saugus, Woburn and Wilmington were called in to assist.
On arrival, squatters were removed from the property and a further primary search of the building proved negative. The heavy body of fire was knocked down at approximately 8:45 a.m. The fire was declared under control at 9 a.m. There were no injuries reported.
Deputy Chief Purcell stated “This was a very labor-intensive fire for the Wakefield Fire Department and surrounding mutual aid communities who assisted. This is a building in town which has remained vacant for many years and is very well-known to firefighters as an extremely dangerous structure to operate at should there be a fire. We are fortunate to have an excellent department and an exceptional mutual aid system. I would like to thank the mutual aid crews who work tirelessly alongside the Wakefield Fire companies in getting to the seat of this stubborn fire and preventing the fire from spreading to several businesses along the Main Street block.”
The origin and cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Wakefield Fire Department, Wakefield Police Department and the State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit attached to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
