The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Wellesley College burned down on this date in 1914

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wellesley fire pillarsWellesley College will remember March 17, 2020 as the day on which students were to vacate campus as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Whether some will be back for commencement in late May remains to be seen (a student-organized faux-mencement was held last week).

Another March 17 that already lives in infamy on campus was the one that took place in 1914. Wellesley College’s College Hall, which was school for the first 39 years of its existence, burned to the ground in just four hours.

Remains of that building have been preserved and recognized on campus, and can be seen by veering off the trail around Lake Waban.

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‘Wellesley firefighters may have saved our home…’

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wellesley fire department.Early Saturday morning turned out to be more eventful than Wellesley’s Phil Gormley and Erica Bisguier would have liked, but at least it didn’t turn out disastrous.

Gormley writes:

In the early morning of Saturday, Feb. 22, my wife and I awoke to the smell of smoke. It was not intense enough to set off the smoke detectors but the smell pervaded the house. After we failed to find the source we phoned the Wellesley Fire Department. Though it was clearly not an emergency, three trucks with four firefighters arrived within minutes.

After a 30-minute search the firefighters identified the source as a shorted wire in the control unit of our furnace. Indeed, the furnace was overheating and on the verge of igniting surrounding paper and bookshelves. With their quick response and diligence in their search Firefighters Peter Indresano and Ben Hampton, Lieutenant Ken DeMerchant, and Deputy Chief Chuck DiGiandominico prevented a serious fire and possibly the loss of our home.

We extend our thanks to them and to the numerous Wellesley town workers that keep residents safe and the town operating.

Phil Gormley & Erica Bisguier

514 Washington Street

I followed up with Gormley to ask if there was any chance he might have just slept through all this. “I wasn’t even sure I was smelling anything. Had to wake my wife to verify and could easily have slept through it,” he wrote.

In the end, the firefighters killed the breaker to the furnace and shut off the gas. While their house is now “COLD,” Gormley says, replacement gear is on order for Monday.
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How to dispose of your Christmas tree in Wellesley, Massachusetts

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Here’s an epiphany for you: there’s absolutely no disposing of Christmas trees and other holiday greenery in parks and conservation areas in Wellesley. It might seem like tossing nature into nature, but it’s actually illegal and bad for the environment. It’s also aesthetically displeasing. You know it’s going to take that tree about ten years to break down into the soil, right?

How to say good-bye, fine firs

Take your Christmas tree to the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF). At this time of year they have a seriously depressing-looking pile of former holiday glory, dried out and ready to be ground to bits like so many stale gingerbread men.

RDF hours: M – W, 7am – noon; Th – Sat, 7am – 3:45; closed Sundays

Bringing Christmas trees and greenery to the RDF is the right way to dispose of them. This pile at the dump will eventually be ground into wood chips. From there, it will be used around town at playgrounds and for landscaping.

If you can’t make it over to the RDF, hire industrious Wellesley High School student Jack Kenney to bring your tree there for you. Contact him at 617-777-4150 or by email at [email protected] Rates: $15 if the tree is waiting for him outdoors; $25 if you’d like him to come inside and get it.

The trees on the other side of the fence

We admit that we’re a little jealous of the Joneses. In the adjacent town of Natick, residents need only heave-ho their tree curbside, head off to work, and by the time they get back home the greenery will have disappeared. No, it’s not elfin magic. That’s just how Natick’s Department of Public Works rolls. No, we haven’t pulled a sneaky and left our tree in front of a Natick house.

Natick Christmas tree
We absolutely, positively did not toss our tree in front of this Natick house.

At our house we observe a highly personalized Christmas tree ceremony each year. First, we take the tree away from the only field it’s ever known, and we set it up in in our heated house. Next, we lavish the tree with ornate trappings. After a few weeks we declare that we “need our living room back.” We then take back all of our ornate trappings and evict the tree from our home. Months later, we set the Christmas tree on fire. A merry tradition, indeed.

Wellesley spring burn, 2017
The eagerly awaited Christmas tree pyre, Spring 2017. Duncan Brown and Luke Collins, WHS class of 2019, took care of business. This backyard burn was entirely on the up-and-up, done with the blessing of the Wellesley Fire Department.
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Wellesley Fire Department awarded state grant for protective gear

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The Wellesley Fire Department is among 174 units to receive a chunk of $920,000 in state grants for gear and equipment designed to cut firefighters’ exposure to cancer-causing chemicals. Wellesley receives $4,400 for personal protective wear, otherwise known as turnout gear.

The grants for turnout gear will supply fire department members with better head and hand protection from smoke and toxic chemicals. Additional grants awarded to some communities will cover equipment for washing turnout gear.

The grant to Wellesley is fitting in light of the fire department recently orchestrating a shave-a-thon to raise funds and awareness for battling occupational cancers.

Wellesley Fire Department new engine, 2015

 

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Wellesley firefighters get the call again: This time for a smoking car at MBTA station

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The Wellesley Fire Department is having an epic week. Not only has it responded to 2 house fires and a manhole fire, but also a smoking car at the Wellesley Farms commuter rail station on Friday morning. A Swellesley reader shared this video (thank you):

The department might need to rethink letting veteran Peter Wier retire…

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Wellesley manhole fire could cause power outages

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Wellesley Municipal Light Plant, Wellesley Police and Wellesley Fire Department personnel have been on the scene Thursday night at the Washington Street and State Street intersection dealing with a manhole fire. Power outages in the area can be expected.

More: Wellesley firefighters respond to 2nd significant blaze this week

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Wellesley firefighters respond to 2nd significant blaze this week

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Wellesley firefighters quickly put out what they described as an accidential fire at 64 Washburn Ave. on late Wednesday afternoon that ravaged a garage attached to a home adorned with a Buffalo Bills flag out front. No one was injured, and more details could be released on Thursday, according to safety officials.

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Update (11/14): Firefighters returned to the Washburn Avenue home on Thursday morning to finish up their work.

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Wellesley and other fire departments handled another fire over the weekend on Durant Road that took its toll on a house that was under renovation, and fortunately unoccupied at the time.

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Early morning fire wrecks Wellesley home under renovation

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Firefighters from Wellesley and surrounding communities have put out a serious early morning fire on Durant Road at a home that was under renovation and fortunately unoccupied at the time.

Thanks to Swellesley readers for sharing these intense photos.

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The 2-alarm fire broke out shortly after 4:15am and caused significant damage to the home’s exterior before being contained.

NBC Boston has more on the Wellesley fire.

This blaze reminded us of another fire that took place on the other end of that street back in 2013, destroying a house at 1 Durant Rd.

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