Between Jan. 5 and Jan. 18 the Harvard Fire Department provided mutual aid at a house fire in Bolton and responded to four automatic alarms and two car crashes. Lt. Andrew Perry conducted 13 inspections.
Saturday, Jan. 5
An automatic alarm at a Stow Road residence rang at 5:44 p.m. Lt. Bill Barton went directly to the scene; six firefighters and one recruit assembled at the station. Barton confirmed that the alarm was accidental and no further assistance was needed.
Friday, Jan. 7
Three firefighters assisted the ambulance crew with a patient transfer at 6:45 a.m.
Sunday, Jan. 8
At 3:28 p.m. Chief Rick Sicard, four other firefighters, and one recruit responded to an automatic alarm at the Public Safety building. The firefighters determined that a smoke detector triggered accidentally and no assistance was needed. At 3:43 p.m. Chief Sicard, six firefighters, and one recruit responded to a car crash on Willard Lane. The driver declined a transfer to the hospital; the car was towed.
Wednesday, Jan. 9
The seven firefighters who serve as engineers for Fire Department vehicles met from 7 to 9:45 p.m. and performed routine maintenance on the vehicles.
Friday, Jan. 10
Nine firefighters and one recruit responded to an alarm at the Bromfield School at 7:26 a.m. They checked the building and confirmed that someone had pulled an alarm box accidentally. From 7 to 9 p.m. Chief Sicard, Deputy Chief Charlie Nigzus, and lieutenants Barton, Andrew Perry, Tony Shaw, and Justin Warren attended a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection training in Berlin on open burning regulations.
Tuesday, Jan. 11
At 9:19 a.m. four firefighters and one recruit went to Still River Road when the department received an automatic alarm call. The firefighters discovered that the call had been triggered accidentally while the system was being tested.
Friday, Jan. 15
Six Harvard firefighters provided mutual aid to the Bolton Fire Department for a house fire. The Harvard tanker supplied water to a fire engine at the scene, and Harvard’s Engine 4 pulled water from a nearby fire pond. The Harvard crew left town at 2:47 p.m. and returned at 7 p.m. A seventh firefighter covered the Harvard station while the six firefighters were out of town. Berlin, Clinton, Hudson, Lancaster, and Stow firefighters also assisted Bolton.
Saturday, Jan. 16
At the monthly 7 to 10 p.m. training, an instructor from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy spoke on “Taking action against cancer in the fire service.” The talk covered ways in which firefighters can better protect themselves, including always using air packs and washing firefighting gear. A dermatologist, whose brother is a firefighter, provided free skin cancer screenings for the twenty firefighters in attendance.
Wednesday, Jan. 17
Chief Sicard and Lt. Perry were driving down Still River Road when they noticed smoke rising from an open fire and stopped to check that the resident had a permit. The owner did have a 2019 permit, but there were unauthorized items on the burn pile (furniture and construction debris), and the fire was less than the required 75 feet from the house. Three other firefighters joined Sicard and Perry with Engine 2 and the forestry truck. The firefighters extinguished the fire, wet down the area, removed the banned items from the fire, and gave the resident a verbal warning.
Wednesday, Jan. 18
Six firefighters responded to Route 2 westbound at 6:17 a.m. to assist with a two-car crash at the end of the on-ramp. The firefighters provided scene safety, cleaned up fluids, and stood by until a tow truck arrived. They returned to the zstation at 7:15 a.m
Fire Department Factoid
Thinking about burning brush? Firefighter Robert Curran has created a short video to answer questions about burning safely. The video is at https://vimeo.com/312029381. Additional information is available at Harvardfire.com/safety/burning-season.
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