Whitman Fire / Rescue in the News

PUBLISHED: June 07, 2002 in the Enterprise

Let Voters Decide On Fire-Rescue Hiring (letters to the editor)

To the editor of The Enterprise: Whitman Firefighters Local 1769 AFL/CIO is in strong support of Fire Chief Travers' proposal to add four new firefighters to Whitman Fire-Rescue and Emergency Services Department. A strong argument was put forth during the annual town meeting explaining the needs of the department due to a 300 percent increase in call volume since firefighters were last added to the department nearly 40 years ago. Voters agreed, approving the Board of Selectmen's amendment making the vote contingent on a Proposition 2 1/2 override election. We were dismayed and disgusted that less than one week later, at the May 14 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Chairperson Beth Stafford stated she "would have a problem with even putting this on the ballot." The fact is the Board of Selectmen amended the Fire Chief's article to require a Proposition 2 1/2 override election. The voters at town meeting overwhelmingly approved the article. For Stafford to ignore the voters' decision and entertain the idea of not calling for an override election is just plain arrogant on her part. The chairperson also commented that "only 96 people voted on it." Well, the fact is that the vote was 96 yes to 41 no, a two-to-one margin. We appreciate all the voters who attended the annual town meeting all three nights and stayed to make tough choices for our communities future. We are disappointed that the chairperson would trivialize the action of these 96 voters. Fire-Rescue Union Local 1769 AFL/CIO, by an overwhelming majority vote, supports this article. JAMES P. CUMMINGS, Union President, Whitman Firefighters, Local 1769, Whitman.

PUBLISHED: June 05, 2002 in the Enterprise

Three Fires Test Area's Mutual Aid System

By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer

When the alarm sounded in Stoughton late Tuesday morning for a 46-unit apartment building that was ablaze, firefighters in Brockton were dispatched with a ladder truck to help bring the fire under control. And when a three-alarm fire broke out in Brockton less than an hour later as city firefighters worked in Stoughton, firefighters from three other communities scrambled into Brockton to lend a hand. The mutual aid system was put to the test Tuesday as firefighters from 12 communities assisted at three separate fires and covered fire stations after the blazes broke out in Stoughton and Brockton within two hours. "With budget cutbacks and manpower shortages, we are going to have to rely on mutual aid more and more," Stoughton Fire Chief Ellis Carroll said. The fires destroyed an apartment in a 46-unit building at 195 Britton Ave. in Stoughton and caused extensive damage at a three-family house at 44 Battles St. in Brockton and in another home at 27 Dandy Road in Brockton. In Stoughton, firefighters from Randolph, Canton, Brockton and Easton responded to the fire while Holbrook, Avon and Norwood covered one of the stations. In Brockton, firefighters from Abington, Whitman and West Bridgewater offered mutual aid when the fire was reported on Battles Street. Then, when a second major fire broke out on Dandy Road, another truck from Whitman — along with firefighters from East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Holbrook, Abington and Braintree — rushed to Brockton. But that left Whitman in need of fire coverage, said Whitman Fire Chief Timothy P. Travers. So a fire truck from Hanson was sent to Whitman to cover the town in case a fire broke out there, he said. "It gets complicated on a day like this," Travers said. What made it move smoothly and appear uncomplicated was the plan set up by Plymouth County Control, which juggles emergency personnel throughout the area when communities need extra help. "It is like a spider over the area," Travers said. "It was moving its legs, bringing departments and personnel in. As the surrounding communities were stripped, it reaches further out and brings in more men and equipment." At the center of the movement Tuesday was Scott Billings, the communications officer at Plymouth County Control. Armed with a list of contacts, Billings quickly radioed departments to help Brockton when the three-alarm blaze was called on Battles Street. But there was a slight problem: Stoughton and Easton were on the list, but were tied up at the apartment fire in Stoughton. "We had to improvise a little," he said. Keeping track of where firefighters are and what they are battling is the key to the smooth operation of the mutual aid effort. "There are times we have to back fill," Billings said. "You try not to have any one town completely stripped." The three fires so close in time posed a challenge, and it was met, Billings said. East Bridgewater Fire Chief Ryon T. Pratt said departments rely on each other. "It is called give and take," he said. "The benefit of this is that the mutual aid system is such that if they are available, they will respond and if we are available, we are willing to respond." Stoughton acting Fire Capt. Douglas Campbell said Tuesday was far from a normal day. "It was very unusual to have that many fires around the same time," Campbell said. The smooth mutual aid effort brought extra firefighters to each fire scene and more manpower to stations in case another fire broke out. "It worked out very well for us," Campbell said. Maureen Boyle can be reached at mboyle@enterprisenews.com

BROADCAST: May 30, 2002 on WCVB-TV Channel 5

Charges Dropped Against Couple Who Sparked Worcester Fire

WORCESTER, MA - The charges against a homeless couple accused of starting the 1999 Worcester warehouse fire that killed six firemen will be dropped.


	Watch Amalia Barreda's Report

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda said that Thomas Leveques and Julie King were at Thursday morning's hearing where Worcester Superior Court Judge Daniel Toomey approved the unique disposition of their case. The district attorney admitted it was a difficult conclusion, especially for the families of the six firefighters who died. But he told reporters he would not have agreed to this deal if all the parties had been on board. Levesque and King had smiles for the camera in court. The once homeless couple did not admit to any crime in not reporting the warehouse fire that killed six Worcester firefighters in December of 1999. Levesque and King were placed on pre-trial probation for five years in a deal that requires them to stay out of trouble during that time. Worcester County District Attorney John Conte said it was the medical records of the defendants -- both reported to be mentally retarded -- that prompted him to agree to the deal. "Once we received that and went over them we decided that the only option was the option that we took today because based on the reports, we felt that the defendants would not be able to go through a trial," Conte said. King's attorney said that her diminished mental capacity accounts for her giggling in court and does not mean she doesn't feel remorse for what happened. "When I tried to speak to her recently about wanting to understand the enormity of this tragedy all she did was sob and say, 'I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I didn't think anybody was going to be killed,'" King's attorney, Louis Aloise, said. Despite Conte's claims that everyone was in agreement with this disposition, the Worcester Fire Department and the firefighters' union would not do an interview on camera. Some of the families of the firefighters who died also refused to comment. Others did not return NewsCenter 5's calls.

WHITMAN — Town meeting approved the fire and police chiefs' requests to increase staffing, forcing selectmen to call for a special election before Sept. 15 to ask voters to fund the positions with a Proposition 2 1/2 override. Selectman Beth Stafford said it was too late to add the override question to the May 18 town election, where voters will decide a question to pass a debt exclusion from Proposition 2 1/2 to fund a proposed $49.2 million high school. Fire Rescue Chief Timothy Travers' request for four positions totals $257,152, while Police Chief John Schnyer reduced his request from four to two additional positions at a cost of $123,000. Voters debated the request at length following a presentation by Travers outlining his concerns about staffing, including a video of past fires in town. Travers said his department had not added positions since 1966, when the department took over ambulance calls from the Police Department, despite the fact that ambulance call volume increased 300 percent, often leaving the station empty. Travers compared Whitman to the town of Ipswich, where a lone firefighter fought a house fire for 10 minutes last year while other on-duty firefighters were tied up on medical calls. Three people died in the Ipswich fire, and Travers noted similarities between Whitman's and Ipswich's population sizes and numbers of emergency calls. "We could very well see the same potential problems as Ipswich, it is only a matter of time," said Travers, who noted that his department was hard-pressed to meet national recommended response times in certain emergency situations. Finance Committee Chairman Daniel Salvucci said if the override vote passed, it would increase the tax rate by 98 cents per 1,000. He estimated the tax rate would be $18.34 per 1,000 in valuation if the high school debt exclusion passed. "Search your souls and pocketbooks to see if you feel this request is adequate," said Salvucci. Town Administrator Frank Lynam warned voters that unlike a debt exclusion, which comes off the tax rate when the project is paid off, an override vote increased the tax levy permanently. "Public safety is a real part of our lives, but we have finite resources. If you are prepared to do this, you have to be prepared to override 2 1/2," Lynam told the meeting. "All we need to do is vote yes and let it become a decision of the taxpayers of the town. We have the opportunity to turn this over to a ballot and let people decide," said Council on Aging Director Pat McCarthy. The final vote was 96 in favor and 41 against the Fire Department's request. The Police Department's request passed with a voice vote, with few voicing opposition. The police and fire requests will appear as separate questions on the ballot when the election is held. Town Counsel Michelle McNulty was called upon to answer finer points of a citizen's petition to increase the retirement allowance of any former employee who served at least 25 years in town to 50 percent of the regular compensation paid to employees holding a similar position to that held by the former employee at this time of retirement. Travers spoke in favor of that article as well, and the question passed by a vote of 103-24, despite the fact that no figures were available for the cost implication of the vote. By the end of the night, the 162 voters completed work on the annual town meeting warrant. Salvucci estimated the town had stayed under the levy limit, but did ask that the final article to transfer money into the town's stabilization account be passed over. "I request that we pass over the question because there isn't any money left," said Salvucci.

ABINGTON — A stubborn brush fire on Summer Street near the railroad tracks in North Abington drew firefighters from several area towns Monday, and a state police helicopter was used to dump water on inaccessible hot spots, fire officials said. Fire personnel were summoned to the brush fire at 2:17 p.m. Monday, said Abington Fire Capt. David Farrell. Smoke poured from the scene, making visibility low, which caused a minor accident on Route 58, Farrell said. Responding were firefighters from Whitman, Rockland, Hanover, Hanson and Holbrook, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Plymouth County plane and the state police helicopter, reported Capt. John Weckbacher. He said the last fire apparatus left the scene at 8:09 p.m. "At one point, they stopped the trains and once we were sure we didn't have to put any apparatus or hose lines on the tracks, they went at very slow speeds," Farrell said. The MBTA stops the trains whenever the Fire Department has to use the apparatus road, said Weckbacher. The location of the fire, which did not threaten any homes, also was an issue. "It's a very inaccessible area. It's tough to get trucks in there," Farrell said. Fire Chief Malcolm Whiting dispatched an engine company to Gladtidings Assembly of God Church at 17 Center Ave. to make sure it was not threatened. A parking lot served as a barrier for the flames and the church was spared from damage, Farrell said. The state police helicopter, which has the ability to drop about 100 gallons of water onto a fire, was used to get to areas that were hard to reach, Farrell said. No injuries were reported, and fire officials were still on the scene five hours later. Farrell and Weckbacher said officials on the scene estimated about 35 acres burned.

WHITMAN — Deputy Chief Joseph Feeney said the quick response by two alert neighbors helped to avert a possible tragedy during a house fire at 153 Joyce Terrace Saturday. The fire was contained to a one-room addition to the ranch-style home, and the lone occupant of the house was able to escape without injury after a next-door neighbor called for help and awakened him when the fire broke out at 4:22 p.m. "I was sitting in a chair in my living room when I noticed a white puff of smoke go by the window, so I walked down the lawn and saw it coming from the roof of the house," said John Lunnin, 43, of 145 Joyce Ave. Lunnin, a former call firefighter in Hanson and former auxiliary police officer in Whitman, responded instantly, instructing his wife to call the Fire Department while he ran next door with his brother, Gary. While Gary kicked in the door to the addition where the fire was located, John noticed the shade down in the bedroom window and used a shovel to pry off the window sash. Lunnin found resident James Wilkie asleep in the bedroom. Wilkie had not heard the fire alarm sounding, nor did he hear Lunnin break in the window. Lunnin said he grabbed Wilkie by the shirt and pulled him through the window. When firefighters arrived on the scene, two minutes after receiving the call, Wilkie was climbing out of a bedroom window to safety. The fire was contained in a converted garage being used as a utility room and living space, and it was extinguished by firefighters within six minutes. "Thank God for good neighbors. If this fire had gone on for another five minutes it would have been a different story," said Feeney. "He did a good job by alerting us, alerting the occupant and standing by and waiting to give us information." "We were the only people in the neighborhood home yesterday, and we had just got home 15 minutes before," said Lunnin. "A little more time and he (Wilkie) could have been in serious trouble." Feeney estimated damage to the home at $12,000, which included damage to the addition and smoke damage throughout the home. Feeney said the cause of the fire appeared to be the careless disposal of smoking materials, due to the burn pattern around a burned wastebasket in the addition. Whitman firefighters responded under Feeney's command and Chief Tim Travers reported to the scene with the aid of two call firefighters. The Whitman fire station was emptied of manpower, and East Bridgewater responded to provide coverage at the Whitman station.

If you have any clippings or photographs from the news paper regarding Whitman Fire / Rescue please send them to Pat Travers PO Box 468 Whitman, MA 02382 or to punchcrowd@hotmail.com