Belmont Fire's Challenges On A Challenging Day

On Friday, April 19, as Belmont was placed under a regional lock down by state officials as law enforcement conducted a massive manhunt for the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect on the run in Watertown, Belmont Fire Department Chief David Frizzell recalled the trip to Israel he and Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin took in 2011 for counter-terrorism training.

"It was shocking to see how many of the things we learned in Israel were seen on the streets of Boston and Watertown in the past week," Frizzell said about a long day that ended a long week.

Friday started before 6 a.m. when Frizzell wife woke him to the latest television news.

"I could not believe the reports. I immediately called my Fire Alarm to find out 'what part of Watertown?' When they told me Dexter Avenue, I knew it was the 'East End,' which is close to Belmont," said Frizzell

In fact, the gun battle that took place on what are normally sleepy residential side streets in Watertown hit close to home for Frizzell: Two firefighters and one family member lived in the east Watertown neighborhood where all the action took place.

One firefighter was safe but unable to leave his house. Another firefighter was working at the time and had to return home to his wife and young child. It took some time but he eventually made it home, escorted by the FBI.

In the most frightening incident, Boston Police officers kicked in the front door of the house of a daughter of a Belmont firefighter as they sought cover during the gun battle, said Frizzell.

"Everybody was unharmed, and we are thankful." 

Before leaving for Belmont, Frizzell called McLaughlin to see if he or his officers needed any assistance.

He next contacted Belmont's Emergency Management Director, Leo Saidnawey who activated the Emergency Operations Center at Fire Department Headquarters on Trapelo Road. 

As he drove to Belmont, Frizzell was listening to six radios each tuned to specific channels.

"I was focused not only on what was going on in Watertown, but how it was spilling into Belmont," he said. Frizzell called Watertown's Fire Chief, Mario Orangio, if he needed assistance. 

As Frizzell arrived at the station, the town's only Rescue ambulance was heading out on a call. He met with the on-duty shift commander, and ordered a second Rescue unit in-service as soon as two members arrived for duty which remained on duty for the next 24 hours.

Frizzell proceeded to the EOC where he, Saidnawey and assistant BEMA Director Rick Nohl spent the day listening to a myriad of radio transmissions and monitoring Twitter accounts in Belmont and Watertown to keep Belmont Fire resources informed of breaking events.

Helping Watertown Fire

During Friday, Belmont continued taking in local calls while backing up the Watertown Fire Department on medical calls since their resources were heavily engaged in the search of the suspect. 

With one of the largest searches by local, state and federal law enforcement in the country's history one town over from Belmont, there were many challenges facing Belmont Fire, said Frizzell.

The first was the inability to easily move in or near the affected areas.

"At certain times of the day, we were unable to transport patients to their desired hospital. Rescue needed to transport a patient to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton but all the normal routes were unavailable. These obstructions required the patient to be diverted to another hospital," said Frizzell.

At certain times, the Belmont Street corridor was shut down by police to vehicular traffic "so having both Rescues staffed for response allowed [Belmont] to have critical resources available during these events," he said.

The second challenge was the information overload. Attempting to monitor the chatter on radio frequencies and other sources was a challenge during a very fluid operation. Keeping on top of this information was critical to making sure the firefighters were safe, if they needed to be called, Frizzell said.

Then there was keeping his firefighters safe. Early on in the morning there was a possibility that the suspect had fled into Belmont.

"Upon hearing this I was concerned about my firefighter's safety. If the suspect was armed and decided have another gun battle, there was a strong probability somebody would be shot," he said.

"My Rescue personnel would be required to attend to the patient or patients, but do not have any body armor or ballistic protection," he noted.

A similar issue faced by Watertown, earlier .

"I did not want a replay in Belmont," said Frizzell.

At the end of the day, when the surviving fugitive was captured, " I was thankful." said Frizzell.

"The impressive response by all of the public safety agencies was much appreciated. They did great work in getting two suspected terrorists off the streets," said the chief. 

On Sept. 11, 2001, as a new dad of two weeks, Frizzell recalled asked himself "What kind of a world did I bring my daughter into? After the marathon I found myself asking a similar question 'what kind of a world are we living in now?'"

He then thought back to his training two years ago.

"My trip to Israel taught me a few valuable lessons. Like in Israel, the terrorists have targeted the 'big cities,' but they come from the nearby small villages," he said.

"Boston was the target but the suspects were in our small villages near the "big cities," said Frizzell. 

"We live in a changing world where we need to be vigilant. We need to be cautious but we can't let the actions of a few ruin the American dream," he said.