Beverly Fire Department

House Fire
6/14/2011

For the second time in three days, a fire has severely damaged a Beverly home. On Sunday, Firefighters from Beverly, Salem, Danvers, Peabody, Hamilton and Wenham battled a two alarm fire on Rowell Ave. This afternoon Beverly Firefighters assisted by Danvers fought a fire on Andover Rd.

Firefighters initially received a report from an alarm company that the fire alarm at the property had activated prompting the dispatch of Engines 1 and 3 as well as Truck 1. When Engine 5 arrived, Firefighter Joe Tucker reported seeing smoke coming from the eaves of the building and front door. The homeowner was outside of the home when crews arrived. As Tucker and Firefighter Brad Saunders stretched a hose line into the building, Firefighter Patrick Brady delivered water his crew. Inside the home, Tucker and Saunders found a fire in the kitchen area and quickly knocked down visible fire.

As additional crews showed up, Captain Chris Halloran ordered them to check for fire extension. Lt. Robert Bergeron and Firefighter Mike Zarbano found significant fire extension in the exterior wall and roof area behind the cabinets where the fire was located. The crew immediately began to dig the fire out and hit it with another hose line while Firefighter David Genest hooked a hose line from a hydrant into the pumping Engine 5.

In order to insure the fire stopped spreading, the crew of Engine 3 including Lt. Arthur Fitzpatrick and Firefighters Curtis Hall and Dean Julien climbed onto the roof and opened a hole. From there the crew removed some smoldering materials and kept the fire in check.

A fire crew from Danvers also worked inside the home making sure that the fire didn’t spread to any other part of the home.

Fire Investigators from the Beverly Fire Department and the Office of the State Fire Marshal are investigating the cause of the fire. The home is currently valued at $133,000 and damage is estimated at $60,000. The owner will not be able to stay in the home until repairs are made but he has some place to stay in the interim. He was checked out by EMT’s at the scene but did not require medical treatment. No firefighters were injured at the scene.

Busy Fireman's Sunday
12 June 2011

Sunday the 12^th of June started out like any Fireman’s Sunday. Beverly Firefighters and family members turned out at the Beverly Fireman’s Relief Memorial for a ceremony honoring the six Beverly Firefighters killed in the line of duty as well as all other firefighters killed in the line of duty. The ceremony, led by Deputy Chief William Walsh, included the laying of flowers by family or friends and a moment of silence for each of the deceased members.

As the ceremony ended, a Beverly Police Officer on patrol noticed a plume of smoke rising from the area of Rowell Ave. Upon further investigation, the Officer found a fire at 41 Rowell and immediately requested the Fire Department. Beverly Engines 3 and 5 were dispatched with Truck 1 on the initial alarm. As the Officer approached the home, the homeowner emerged from the front door covered in soot. The elderly male was transported to Beverly Hospital for evaluation.

First arriving fire companies found heavy smoke and fire coming from the rear of the structure and immediately stretched hoselines top the front door. With extremely heavy heat and rapidly increasing fire conditions, crews were forced to knock down the heaviest fire from outside the building before they could fight the fire from inside. Given the amount of fire and the potential for fire spread throughout the 21/2 floors of the old balloon framed structure, a second alarm was requested bringing crews from Danvers, Hamilton, Wenham, Salem and Peabody to the scene.

With the assistance of mutual aid companies, the crews had tackled the bulk of the fire within 30 minutes and spent another 40 minutes digging out small pockets of fire hidden inside the walls and ceilings of the nearly 110 year old structure. Initial crews worked extremely hard to get into the building encountering extremely hot, smoky conditions even after knocking down the fully involved room at the rear of the structure. The heat was so intense that most items above waist level were melted.

Fire Investigators from the Beverly Fire Department and the Office of the State Fire Marshal remain on scene in an effort to determine the cause of the fire. Although the bulk of the intense fire was confined to the back of the home on the first floor, the entire home suffered extreme heat, smoke and some water damage. The home, valued at approximately $160,000, is uninhabitable and will likely have to be completely rehabilitated.

Shortly after the report of the Fire came in, Rockport Police requested the Beverly Fire Department Dive Team to respond for an incident occurring in their community. Three divers were dispatched with Dive Rescue 1 but were cancelled while enroute. Additional information regarding that incident should be addressed by the Rockport Police Department.