Published in the October 2, 2020 edition.
WAKEFIELD — Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of an early morning, five-alarm fire in a maintenance building at the JG MacLellan Concrete Co., 1 New Salem St.
Crews from 12 communities helped Wakefield firefighters battle the blaze, which was reported by a woman driving on Vernon Street around 2:45 a.m. today. The fire fight was made more difficult by lower than average water pressure in the area.
There were no sprinklers or fire alarms in the building, according to Fire Chief Mike Sullivan. When Capt. John Walsh, the officer in charge of the on-duty shift, got to the MacLellan property, the front portion of the long maintenance garage to the left of the entrance was heavily involved in flames. The building, a facility of mixed-construction used to maintain MacLellan’s fleet of cement trucks, contained such things as propane, acetylene torches, oil and lubricants. It also contained trucks. The building’s front is made of wood, with much of the rest of the structure consisting of corrugated steel on I-beams
Walsh determined quickly that a second alarm needed to be struck, which was done at 2:51 a.m. That alarm brought engine crews from Reading, Stoneham and Melrose, and a ladder company from North Reading. Water supply in the area was not enough to battle the fire, so more apparatus was needed to pump water in a relay fashion from what Sullivan believed to be about 10 different hydrants. The hydrants were as far away as Water Street near Narsella Park. The water main on New Salem Street, Sullivan explained, is not a very large one.
The MacLellan maintenance building has few windows and overhead doors, which made accessing the flames difficult as well, Sullivan continued.
“This was a tough fire to fight,” Sullivan said, “but we got it done.”
At about 8:20 this morning, a front end loader was at the scene helping pull down some corrugated siding as firefighters checked for hidden hot spots.
A couple of minor, non-life threatening injuries to firefighters were reported by the fire chief.
Crews coming to the scene on the third alarm, struck at 3:15 a.m., were engine companies from Saugus, Woburn and Lynnfield, as well as a Lynnfield ladder. On the fourth alarm, struck at 3:35 a.m., a Malden engine and ladder company responded. And on the fifth alarm, struck at 4:13 a.m., crews on Winchester, Peabody and Lynn engines responded, as did a Burlington tower company.
Revere and Winchester crews covered the Wakefield fire stations.
According to Sullivan, there is no estimate on the damage but he said the monetary loss will be significant. Concrete trucks and construction vehicles were among those inside the maintenance building at the time of the fire.