More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
The Wellesley Fire and Rescue Department will hold a dive team training event at Morses Pond on Monday, July 12 and Wednesday, July 14. So don’t be alarmed if you see emergency vehicles and equipment in the area.
Training will take place between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the left side of the Morses Pond beach and involve Cambridge and Natick dive teams and Wellesley Fire Boat personnel.
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The Wellesley Fire Department has welcomed 7 new firefighters, all of whom completed the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s fifty-day Career Recruit Firefighting Training Program in May.
All of Wellesley’s new firefighters are qualified as EMTs, and they come from a variety of backgrounds. Two are military veterans, including one who was a medic embedded in a Marine unit in Afghanistan. One comes from a Wellesley family.
Chief Rick DeLorie and Assistant Chief Jeff Peterson say they are proud of the firefighters completing a challenging program, and welcome them to the team.
The recruits receive classroom training in all basic firefighter skills. They practice first under non- fire conditions and then during controlled fire conditions. To graduate, students must demonstrate proficiency in life safety, search and rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation, and fire attack. Fire attack operations range from mailbox fires to multiple-floor or multiple-room structural fires.
Recruits Dan Tedeschi, Matt Nagle, Brendan Gill, Brady Furdon, Pat Doherty, Charlotte DiClemente, and Zack Davis.
About one in four Wellesley residents have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 14% of residents have been fully vaccinated, according to the latest Massachusetts Department of Public Health data.
More than 1 million Massachusetts residents have now been fully vaccinated, according to the state, and Wellesley is home to more than 4,000 of those people.
According to the state’s latest vaccine numbers, 24% of Wellesley residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine (this includes first doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 1 shot of the single-dose Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine).
The state also shares information on partially vaccinated individuals, and Wellesley has 11% of its population in that category.
The Natick Mall mass vaccination site, along CVS and other locations, has allowed residents to get shots close to home. Wellesley Health Department officials wish they could play a bigger role in dispensing vaccines, but the state has largely handed that role over to mass vaccination sites and commercial operators such as CVS.
We wondered, after reading the Boston Globe‘s report about 30% of the Massachusetts State Police not getting vaccinated at department-run clinics, what share of Wellesley Police Department and Fire Department members got vaccinated through the town.
Wellesley promoted its vaccination clinics for first responders in January, with firefighters Joanie Cullinan and Brian Hester, both of whom have faced serious health situations, up first.
In light of Hester’s serious case of COVID-19, it’s not surprising that the fire department had nearly 100% compliance according to data supplied by the Wellesley Health Department.
Police had 100% of dispatch staff and 82% of sworn officers (full-time and special officers) receive the vaccine as of March 17. Note that medical or other issues could be behind officers not receiving the vaccine; it’s not that they necessarily outright refused the vaccine.
As for the state police, the Globe points out that its numbers are based on department clinic vaccinations, and some members of the force may have been vaccinated through other sites or not been vaccinated for medical or other situations.
While teachers have had to go through the general state vaccination sign-up program, Wellesley Public Schools Supt. Dr. David Lussier says progress is good with WPS faculty and staff getting vaccinated. As of Monday, 62% have had at least one dose, he said during the Board of Health meeting.
A Swellesley reader shares a reminder that while you’re in vaccine mode, CVS advises those of you over 60 should to consider getting the shingles vaccine, which is available at CVS minute clinics and is covered by most insurance plans. Some doctors say those 50-plus should consider the vaccine. You’ll need to space out your shingles and COVID-19 vaccines.
The Wellesley Fire Department joined those from Natick and Framingham on Wednesday morning to contain a 3-alarm fire that destroyed Natick Community Organic Farm’s 200-plus-year-old barn and killed a total of 16 pigs and piglets. On site caretakers were able to evacuate and call 9-1-1 after a farm dog awoke them to the fire at about 4:30am.
The devastating fire has generated a huge outpouring from the community, which frequents the farm for volunteer opportunities, to visit the animals, buy maple syrup and vegetables, and more.
We were on site to interview farm staff.
More on this story on Natick Report.
