Cambridge Firefighters Honored
11/22/2017 • 7 years ago
The information on this page may be outdated as it was published 7 years ago.
The Cambridge firefighters who fought the 10-alarm fire in the Wellington-Harrington neighborhood on Dec. 3, 2016 were recently recognized at the 2017 Massachusetts Firefighter of The Year Awards Ceremony in Worcester.
The men and women of Cambridge Fire Department Group 3 received the Citation for Meritorious Conduct in response to the Berkshire Street Fire.
Here is the wording from the award:
Award(s): Group Citation
On Saturday afternoon, December 3, 2016, multiple calls were received for numerous building fires on Berkshire Street in East Cambridge. On arrival firefighters were faced with one building already collapsed and multiple cars burning. Realizing the severity of the scene, Deputy Chief Morrissey immediately struck multiple alarms while still assigning responding units into the best locations. Firefighters battled the 10-alarm blaze for several hours, with the flames still burning at 11 p.m. Twenty-five communities responded with mutual aid.
Flames extended to as many as 11 buildings in the area. One of the buildings was an old church that has been converted to apartment buildings, but most of the buildings were 3-story homes.
While the amount of devastation was enormous, there was no loss of life and injuries were minimal. More than 100 people were displaced. Eighteen buildings sustained varying levels of damage. One of the buildings collapsed, while others suffered partial collapse. Loss was estimated at $40-million. The cause was improperly discarded smoking materials by workers on a construction site where no smoking should have been allowed.
Among those in attendance at the special ceremony were Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale, Deputy City Manager Lisa C. Peterson, and Acting Fire Chief Gerard E. Mahoney.
We salute these brave men and women for their actions at this fire and every day to keep us safe in Cambridge.
