Beverly Fire Department

Serious Burn Injuries



At 1658 on March 31, the Beverly Fire Department received a report of a “man on fire” on Woodbury St. Truck 1 arrived at the scene and found an 84 year old male with serious burns. Crews assessed the man’s injuries and provided medical attention before Northeast Regional Ambulance transported him to Beverly Hospital. The burn injuries sustained by the victim were life threatening.

The circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation by Beverly Fire and Police Departments.

House Fire
675D Hale St

Shortly after midnight on March 31, the Beverly Fire Department responded for a report of a house fire at 675 D Hale St. Engine 1, Truck 1, Truck 2 and Deputy Chief Peter O’Connor were dispatched to that location.

Upon arrival at the scene, Lieutenant Donald O’Connor and Firefighter Jeff O’Neil observed moderate smoke on the second floor and fire in a second floor closet. The two immediately stretched a line to the seat of the fire and began fire extinguishment.

Lieutenant Kevin Smith and Firefighter Scott Perkins stretched a second hoseline into the home’s attic in order to keep the fire from spreading while Captain Paul Labelle and Firefighter Jon Palm supplied extra water to Engine 1 and ventilated smoke from the structure.

Lieutenant Donald Philpot and Firefighters Ross McCulloch and Ryan Laracy assisted crews on the second floor with overhaul and checking for fire extension. They determined that the fire did not spread beyond the closet and chimney chase behind the closet wall.

Smoke detectors alerted the occupants of the home to the presence of the fire and all three were able to evacuate prior to the arrival of the fire department. Due to the quick notification and response of the fire department, fire damage was kept to a minimum and the occupants were not displaced.

Lieutenant Eric Fowler of the Beverly Fire Investigation Unit is investigating the cause of the fire.

Units were clear of the scene at approximately 0330.

Beverly Firefighters Fill Support Roles in Middleton Explosion

3/13/2011
 

Beverly Fire Department Firefighters responded to the Middleton Explosion in several support roles on March 13. The first function was directly to the scene as Truck 2 and Car 2 responded to the Bostik facility to aid Middleton and other Fire Departments working to control the fire and lessen the impact on the local community. The second role began when injured victims from the explosion were being transported to Beverly Hospital. It was at Beverly Hospital where Firefighters were dispatched to set up a mobile Mass Decontamination Unit (MDU) in preparation for decontamination of victims and responders taken to Beverly Hospital from the incident scene.

Engines 1 and 3 were dispatched to the hospital where they met two additional firefighters and set up the MDU which is used to get contaminated materials off of both ambulatory and non-ambulatory victims. In the case of the Middleton explosion, the number of contaminated injured that needed to be transported to Beverly Hospital was fairly small. In total, 4 non ambulatory victims were washed inside the tent for treatment in the Beverly Hospital Emergency Room.

The MDU has been assigned to the Beverly Fire Department for nearly a decade. Firefighters conduct training in its setup and operation annually in the hopes that it will never have to be used. Additionally, the Department has conducted joint exercises with the hospital and local businesses in the past. Fortunately, tonight’s incident was on a far smaller scale than the use of the tent was initially designed. Tonight, the training and exercises paid off as the system worked as planned.

The tent is comprised of three sections. The first is where victims remove their contaminated clothing, the second is the wash station with corridors for people that can wash themselves as well as a corridor where a team of hospital personnel can perform decontamination on victims that are unable to decontaminate themselves. In tonight’s case, the hospital personnel decontaminated all four victims inside the MDU while firefighters set up and operated the equipment.

In addition to the tent sections, the MDU consists of a water heater, generator, lighting and a system for collecting the hazardous runoff from the decontamination process.

Once all of the victims were decontaminated, the “clean” equipment was broken down but the potentially contaminated equipment was left under watch until arrangements for cleanup could be made.