Belmont Fire Log: Purecoat Goes 'Boom'

Steam heat 

Feb. 24 – A little after 7:30 a.m., all of Belmont's fire equipment – Engine 1 and 2, Ladder 1 and Rescue 1 – were sent to the tallest residential building in Belmont on Trapelo Road in Cushing Square for smoke coming out of the building. Turned out to be steam escaping from the exhaust vents of the heating system.

Long gone

Feb. 24 – Fire personnel were sent to a Concord Avenue residence to check up on the homeowner since they had not been seen for a while. With the help of the Belmont Police Department – they found a second house key "hidden" in the garage – the firefighters were able to gain entrance to the home. No one was home. 

Purecoat "explosion" 

Feb. 25 – Half past midnight, the entire Belmont Fire Department rushed over to the Purecoat North manufacturing facility on Hittinger Street after calls came in reporting "an explosion" at the plant. Fire companies arrived to discover that the facility, the abutting High School and sections of the Hill Estate without power. Inside the plant, firefighters could not find evidence of an explosion or any other problem. It was believed the incident was electrical in nature. The plant manager and the Belmont Municipal Light Department were notified.

Just a little amount

Feb. 25 – Midway between a quarter past and half past 3 p.m., Engine 2 was sent to a Watson Road dwelling to investigate a problem with carbon monoxide. On arrival Engine 2 investigated and found no alarm sounding althought they did find an intermittent readings of a small amount of natural gas in the basement. But they could not pinpoint the possible source. After ventilating the area, the basement was re-checked and noting showed up this time. 

Belmont Fire already at the scene

Feb. 25 – At a quarter to 4 p.m., a fire alarm at the High School sounded. But you didn't have to look far for a firefighter as BFD Chief Frizzell was "on scene" when the alarm was struck. He and other firefighters investigated and found the corridor outside the English Department filled with smoke. Turned out to be a meal left a bit too long in the microwave in Room 111. Doors and windows were opened to ventilate smoke.

Mutual aid in action

Feb. 26 – At 9:44 p.m., Belmont Engine 1 was dispatched to cover Watertown Fire Headquarters as the neighboring department was fighting a two-alarm fire. When the third alarm was struck, Engine 1 was directed to the fire near Watertown Square with orders to report to the front of the building where they were directed to stretch a two-and-a-half inch "attack" hose from a Newton Engine to the front windows and knock down the fire.

Red tag it!

March 2 – Just after 10:30 a.m., Engine 2 was sent to Beatrice Circle to investigate a CO alarm going off in a house. The crew reported carbon monoxide readings of 45 ppm in the basement – which is higher than normal – so as a precaution the burner unit and both water heaters were shut down. The gas company respond to the scene while firefighers used both of their gas detectors to check the entire residence. Windows were opened to ventilate the residence after a small amount of gas was found on the first floor. After several minutes both detectors displayed normal readings in the residence. A "red tag" was affixed to the burner unit and the homeowner was informed of the red tag process and not to re-activate the burner unit or water heaters until they were checked by a qualified technician.

Out of date

March 2 – Just before 5 p.m., Engine 1 was sent to Audrey Road to investigate why a CO alarm had gone off. The homeowner said her first-floor alarm had gone off but firefighters did not find any elevated readings in the single-family house. They then looked at the alarm: the manufacturer's date on the detector was 2006. The homeowner advised to update her detector.