PATERSON, NJ, APRIL 20, 2014 – Flames consumed three wood-frame, mixed-occupancy buildings on Easter Sunday, leaving 11 people homeless. A passing battalion chief radioed in the alarm, requesting a full assignment and then a second alarm.

Photo by Ron Jeffers

CAMBRIDGE, MA, APRIL 17, 2014 – Just after midnight, units responded to an automatic alarm for an apartment building constructed in 1889. Smoke was showing from the first-floor lobby. The fire, which originated in the basement, spread upward through the six-story, U-shape building, which contained 57 apartments, via a large pipe chase. Twenty engines, nine trucks, one heavy rescue and two squads stopped the fire on the fifth floor. Units responding to the sixth alarm included Cambridge as well as Boston, Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Chelsea, Medford, Newton, Somerville, Waltham and Watertown and Weston.

Photo by John Cetrino

CHARLTON, MA, MARCH 26, 2014 – Firefighters from Charlton and several other area departments battled a three-alarm alarm blaze that started in the garage of an occupied colonial-style home. Extreme wind gusts to 40 mph and a lack of hydrants hampered the crews’ efforts to control the fire, so a tanker shuttle was established as a water supply. The fire occurred on the same afternoon and with the similar extreme wind conditions as the Boston fire that claimed the lives of two firefighters.

Photo by Paul LaRochelle

DETROIT, MI, MARCH 2, 2014 – Two bad hydrants forced this firefighter to wait for water as the fully involved vacant dwelling behind him extends to an occupied dwelling next door. This was the third fire in this neighborhood in 45 minutes and responding companies came from a long distance. The fire was brought under control in 90 minutes.

Photo by Dan Jasina

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