Between Sept. 15 and Sept. 28 the Harvard Fire Department responded to seven car crashes, one possible house fire, two reports of smoke in the area, one call for medical assistance, one report of a person trapped in an elevator, and one brush fire with wires down. Lt. Andrew Perry inspected five smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and two dumpsters. Lt. Perry and firefighter Bill Berthoud attended the 24th Annual State Fire and Life Safety Educators Conference on Sept. 25 and 26. Chief Rick Sicard attended the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts meeting on Sept. 19 and on Sept. 21, spent the day in Westfield at the National Fire Protection Association meeting on the Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) standards. On Sept. 27 he met with the consultant doing the traffic study around Town Hall.
Saturday, Sept. 15
Lt. Bill Barton responded to a 2:05 a.m. call from an Old Littleton Road residence about an intermittently chirping smoke/CO detector. He located the faulty detector and advised it be replaced. From 8 a.m. to noon, Lt. Justin Warren and a recruit went to Stow to participate in a water supply training. At 7 p.m. three firefighters and one recruit investigated a report of smoke in the area along Route 2 eastbound west of Harvard. They found no signs of smoke.
Monday, Sept. 17
At 5:05 a.m. Lt. Tony Shaw investigated a smoke detector trouble signal from an Ayer Road commercial building. He advised the owner to call the alarm company. Lt. Warren trained four recruits on working with ladders from 7 to 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 18
Chief Sicard, three firefighters, and one recruit assisted with a truck that went off Turner Lane at 1:07 p.m. and turned over. The ambulance took the driver to the hospital. The firefighters stayed on scene until the tow company righted the truck and towed it away and Mass DEP cleaned up the small quantity of fluids that had spilled. They returned to the station at 6:40 p.m. At 6:51 p.m. the department received a report of smoke in the area on Prospect Hill Road. Lt. Shaw went directly to the scene while six firefighters reported to the station. Lt. Shaw determined there was no fire and canceled further response.
Wednesday, Sept. 19
At the monthly department training 14 firefighters and four recruits practiced inflating heavy-lift air bags with compressed air, tools for lifting or stabilizing vehicles. At 9:14 p.m. five firefighters left the training to respond to a call from a Trail Ridge resident about a sounding smoke detector. The crew found a faulty detector and advised the homeowner to replace it.
Thursday, Sept. 20
At 8:18 a.m. a two-car accident on Route 2 east brought out four firefighters. The firefighters provided scene safety; the passengers refused medical transport. At 11:43 a.m. the department received a report that electrical wires were down on Sherry Road and had started a small brush fire. Chief Sicard and two firefighters responded. They waited until National Grid shut off the power before extinguishing the brush fire. National Grid repaired the lines.
Saturday, Sept. 22
Lt. Perry responded to a trouble alarm from a Still River Road residence at 5:34 p.m. He checked the house, found no problems, and advised the owners to call the alarm company.
Sunday, Sept. 23
Lt. Perry was on Oak Hill Road at 10:03 a.m. to assist a resident with a malfunctioning smoke detector.
Monday, Sept. 24
At 9:06 a.m. the department received a call that someone was stuck in the Town Hall lift. Lt. Perry went straight to Town Hall while three other firefighters waited at the station. Perry was able to open the lift doors and help the rider out. He recommended that the lift be serviced. At 4:44 p.m. a resident walking on Madigan Lane heard smoke detectors sounding in a nearby house. Five firefighters responded. No one was home, but the firefighters were able to enter. They found no sign of smoke or fire but they did find a faulty detector. They advised the owner to replace the faulty detector. Lt. Warren trained two recruits from 7 to 9 p.m. on the firefighters’ self-contained breathing apparatus.
Tuesday, Sept. 25
Chief Sicard and Lt. Perry responded to a car crash on Ayer Road at Myrick Lane at 2:45 p.m. The ambulance took one person to the hospital. The firefighters waited until the car was towed. An Ayer Road homeowner called at 5:27 p.m. about a beeping smoke detector. Chief Sicard checked the home and the detector. At 6:05 p.m. 11 firefighters responded to a call from a Myrick Lane resident reporting smoke in the house. The firefighters checked the home and found that burned food had caused the smoke. At 8:55 p.m. the department was dispatched to a car crash on Route 2 eastbound before Route 495. Chief Sicard was first to arrive on scene; he found the Littleton Fire Department on site and handling the situation.
Wednesday, Sept. 26
Three firefighters went to a Poor Farm Road residence at 10:58 a.m. in response to a call from an alarm company that the alarm had triggered. The firefighters found three out-of-date detectors. They contacted the owners and advised them to have the alarm company replace the units. At 12:06 p.m. Lt. Warren was back at the Poor Farm Road address when the alarm went off again. The alarm company took the system off-line pending service. At 10:28 p.m. 10 firefighters, the chief, and one recruit went to South Shaker Road, where a car had hit a tree; four firefighters waited at the station. The driver refused medical transport. The firefighters were still on South Shaker Road when an automatic alarm came in from a Mass. Ave. home at 10:54 p.m. Four firefighters left the crash scene and went to Mass. Ave. They suspect that heavy rains triggered the alarm; they advised the resident to call the alarm company for service. Both sets of firefighters were back at the station at midnight.
Thursday, Sept. 27
At 6:32 p.m. eight firefighters and one recruit responded to a minor accident involving a car and a motorcycle on Ayer Road. Both drivers told the ambulance crew that they did not need medical transport. From 7 to 10 p.m. Lt. Warren conducted pump training and dry hydrant testing with four firefighters and one recruit.
Friday, Sept. 28
Five firefighters responded to a rollover on Prospect Hill Road at 7:26 a.m. The car rolled twice and came to rest on a stone wall. The driver refused medical transport. At 5:24 p.m. the chief, three firefighters, and one recruit responded to a request for medical assistance from a walker on conservation land near Willard Lane. Chief Sicard located the hiker and helped her out to the road. The ambulance crew took the hiker to the hospital, and the firefighters took her dogs home.
Fire Department Factoid
Fire Prevention Week 2018 is Oct. 7-13. This year’s theme is “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.” HES parents should look for brochures sent home that week. Saturday, Oct. 13, is Home Fire Drill Day. Visit homefiredrillday.makesafehappen.com for information and suggestions on how your family can prepare.
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