Fire Department

Voters will face a $293,000 property tax override on Tuesday's election ballot. If passed, the money would be used to fund several town departments, including public safety, the library, and Town Hall. According to a fact sheet prepared by the town, if the override fails, the Police Department budget will be cut by $100,000, likely eliminating overnight patrol shifts and two full-time positions. Passage of the override would maintain current positions and coverage, enable the purchase of an additional cruiser, and allow for small wage increases for the department.

Firefighters responded to the Charlestown Navy Yard just before noon today for a mercury spill, fire officials said. Between two and three ounces of mercury spilled at 107 Third Ave. shortly after 11:30 a.m., fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald said. "It's an old grandfather clock that had some kind of mercury in its system to operate," MacDonald said. "Whatever was holding the mercury leaked. " About one ounce of mercury spilled outside the clock and an additional two ounces spilled inside the clock, the fire department said on...

The Boston Fire Department suspended 54 firefighters yesterday who were among more than 200 EMTs who state investigators say faked medical training certifications in a fraudulent scheme that came to light last year. While many private ambulance companies planned to fire emergency medical technicians named in the state public health investigation, the Boston Fire Department began its own yearlong inquiry that concluded yesterday, the department said. “They did not follow established procedures when they were going to be recertified,’’ said Fire Department spokesman Stephen McDonald.

A smoky, two-alarm transformer fire in the basement forced the evacuation of the federal courthouse on the waterfront this afternoon. No one was injured, but the court was expected to remain closed on Friday, as a result, authorities said. Firefighters responded to the Moakley Courthouse on Northern Avenue at 4:12 p.m., a fire department spokesman said in a statement. Firefighters waited for NStar to turn off the power to the area, the spokesman said. NStar workers arrived shortly after 5 p.m. The lights in the building flickered and then went off as emergency alarms...

The town held a public promotion ceremony last month for the new leadership at the Fire Department. Vincent J. Smith took the oath as fire chief, replacing Robert Loomer, who retired from the post. Smith, a Wayland resident, has served with the Fire Department since 1978, rising through the ranks while completing numerous certifications. With Smith's promotion, Captain David Houghton will now serve as deputy chief; Lieutenant Robert Dorey was named a captain; and Kenneth McGuire was promoted from firefighter to lieutenant.

The Fire Department has received $22,240 in federal money to pay for new equipment. The grants, announced Dec. 16 and administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, total $1.2 million distributed to seven communities in the Commonwealth. Malden's allotment was the smallest in the state in this round of approved funding. Worcester received $405,139, the most in the state. - Matt Byrne

The Lakeville Fire Department, with the help of the Boy Scouts of America's Annawon Council, is forming a Fire Service Explorer Post and is holding a sign-up night in early January, said Andrew Hebner, the council's senior district executive. Boys and girls ages 14-20 may enter the program, he said. Fire Service Explorers will assist firefighters in various duties and take firefighter training, including CPR and first aid, Hebner said. The program's goal is to help young people find a career path in fire and emergency services, he said, adding that many former Explorers have found employment in fire...

The Fire Department has benefited from two federal grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The largest and most recent is $630,000 for the Rockland and Abington departments to replace their communications systems. According to Rockland Fire Chief Scott Duffey, everything except the antennas will be replaced, and microwave systems will replace vulnerable telephone-line connections. The department also is adding resuscitation equipment with $115,487 in federal grant money.

The Holbrook Fire Department is offering a cardiopulmonary resuscitation course to Holbrook residents Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. in the lower level of the public safety building, 300 South Franklin St. Preregistration is required, and the CPR class is limited to 20 residents. Participants pay $25. For more information, contact Noreen Costa at ncosta@holbrookfire.com. Jennette Barnes

HARTFORD - Connecticut lawmakers and civil rights activists are urging the mayor of New London to examine a report highlighting alleged discrimination at the state fire academy and to hire a recruit who says he was a target of such acts. New London state Representative Ernest Hewett and Scot Esdaile, president of the Connecticut NAACP, announced the findings of an investigation of the state fire training school by the state public safety commissioner's office at a press conference Tuesday.

A school van was involved in a crash with another vehicle at the Drum Hill rotary off Route 3 in Chelmsford this afternoon, the fire department said. The van driver and two teenaged students, along with two teenaged females in the second vehicle, were transported to a local hospital for precautionary reasons, Chelmsford police Lieutenant Jim Spinney said. None of them had serious injuries, he said. The van, which was transporting the two students from the private Lighthouse School in Chelmsford, collided with the second vehicle in the middle of the intersection,...

Voters will consider a long list of capital purchases when annual Town Meeting opens Monday. The items, totaling more than $800,000, include replacement of two cruisers and purchase of a motorcycle for the police department, a backup system for the Town Hall computer network, gear for the fire department and a car for the fire chief, some vehicles for the highway department, and equipment for the water department, including a filter system to manage...

The Holbrook Fire Department is offering a cardiopulmonary resuscitation course to Holbrook residents Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. in the lower level of the public safety building, 300 South Franklin St. Preregistration is required, and the CPR class is limited to 20 residents. Participants pay $25. For more information, contact Noreen Costa at ncosta@holbrookfire.com. Jennette Barnes

Town Manager Carl Valente has named John A. Wilson as chief of the town's Fire Department. Wilson, a Lexington firefighter since 1985 who has been a captain in the department since 2007, will be sworn in as chief on May 23. He will take over for Keith Hoyle, a retired fire chief from Amherst who has been filling in as interim chief since the retirement of William Middlemiss last year. Lexington conducted a nationwide search, and had 30 applicants for the chief's position, according to the town.

Mayor Ted Bettencourt was set to promote two longtime Peabody firefighters in a City Hall ceremony on Wednesday. Thomas C. Tremblay, a 24-year-veteran of the Fire Department, has been elevated to captain after serving as a lieutenant for the past 14 years. Tremblay joined the department in 1987 and became a lieutenant in 1997. Tracy A. Collins, a 13-year veteran of the department, was promoted to lieutenant, making her the first woman to earn that rank in the 144-year history of the department.

Voters will face a $293,000 property tax override on Tuesday's election ballot. If passed, the money would be used to fund several town departments, including public safety, the library, and Town Hall. According to a fact sheet prepared by the town, if the override fails, the Police Department budget will be cut by $100,000, likely eliminating overnight patrol shifts and two full-time positions. Passage of the override would maintain current positions and coverage, enable the purchase of an additional cruiser, and allow for small wage increases for the department.

The men of the North Quincy Fire Department. (From left) Matt Walsh, John Malvesti, Dan Sullivan, Andy Smith, Tom Bowes, Lt Mike Marshall, Lt. Chris Condon pose for a photo outside of the station. By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent The photo was something the firefighters at the North Quincy Fire Station already had, a memento to send to one of their own who was serving in the armed forces in Afghanistan. Yet when firefighter Matt Walsh heard about a Fire Department photo contest through Kaplansky Insurance on Facebook, that photo suddenly became...

Providence firefighters have rescued a small dog that was trapped in a street drain, and officials are looking for its owners. Authorities told WPRI-TV ( http://bit.ly/L57gVr) that a person walking another dog on Pleasant Valley Parkway discovered the Chihuahua trapped in a drain filled with water shortly after 6:30 a.m. Friday and called the fire department. Firefighters were able to get the dog out of the drain and it's OK, but it wasn't immediately clear who owned the dog. Police were helping to try to find the Chihuahua's owners.

MALDEN - Two bystanders risked their lives Friday morning when they rushed into a burning three-family home to alert residents that a fire was quickly consuming the back of the Salem Street property. Anthony Nardone, 46, a crossing guard for students at the adjacent Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, and a woman police identified as Kathy Delaney pounded on doors to help evacuate residents, all of whom escaped unharmed. "I just wanted to help," said Nardone. "I was glad to do that.