WAKEFIELD — Provisional Fire Chief Thomas M. Purcell reports that the Wakefield Fire Department extinguished a two-alarm fire in a mixed-use structure on Sunday night.
On Sunday, Sept. 15, at approximately 8:03 p.m., the Wakefield Fire Department was dispatched to 17 Albion St., for a report of a possible structure fire.
Companies arrived to find heavy fire showing from the exterior of a mixed-use occupancy with an unoccupied commercial space on the first floor and an apartment above.
Companies made a quick attack on the exterior flames, knocking them down before entering the building to stop the fire from extending inside. A second-alarm was struck for manpower.
A woman, trapped on a second-floor fire escape in the building directly next door, was removed over a ground ladder by the department with assistance from quick acting Wakefield Police Officers.
Companies were able to contain the fire to the exterior of the building, with minor extension into the interior. Companies had to conduct extensive overhaul and the building sustained heat and extensive smoke damage.
A resident who escaped the fire was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
Two residents were displaced. Wakefield Emergency Management Director Tom Walsh is working to assist those displaced tenants.
“Companies attacked the fire aggressively and made a good stop just prior to it extending into the attic,” said Chief Purcell.
Firefighters from Lynnfield, Melrose, Stoneham, Reading and North Reading provided mutual aid at the scene, and firefighters from Saugus and Woburn covered Wakefield stations.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Wakefield Fire Department, with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit attached to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
