Early Morning Mobile Home Fire at 3 Washington Street Lot 68

8/26/17

At 12:07 a.m. the Auburn Fire Rescue Department (AFRD) received a 911 call from a resident at 3 Washington Street lot 45 reporting a mobile home was on fire at lot 68. The resident of lot 68 escaped the fire and went across the street to call 911.  

Fire crews upon arrival found the fire venting through the windows and impinging on a propane tank. The Worcester Fire Department also received the call since the location was on the Auburn/Worcester line. AFRD and Worcester Fire extinguished the blaze.    

AFRD Deputy Chief Glenn Johnson said the fire went to 2 alarms and there were no injuries to civilians or firefighters. The fire is under investigation but does not appear to be suspicious.  

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Pictures for media use:

Deputy Chief Glenn Johnson

508-832-7800

gjohnson@town.auburn.ma.us

Serious Motor Vehicle Accident on Southbridge St.

Just before 5:30 a.m. this morning Auburn Fire Rescue along with Auburn Police was dispatched to the scene of a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Southbridge St. and Hampton St. The car was reported to be on its side into a tree and on fire.

On arrival crews found a female driver trapped in the vehicle and there were no other occupants. Auburn Fire Chief Stephen M. Coleman Jr. said this was a very complex extrication that took Fire Rescue crews almost an hour to remove the patient from the vehicle. “Crews did an excellent job under some tough conditions with vehicle placement and the serious injuries of the patient” Coleman said.

AFRD was assisted on scene by an Ambulance from UMASS Emergency Medical Services and the patient was transported to UMASS Memorial University Campus with serious injuries. The accident is under investigation by officers assigned to the CEMLEC Accident Reconstruction Unit.

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Contact:

Chief Stephen M. Coleman Jr.

Auburn Fire Rescue Department

scoleman@town.auburn.ma.us

Update on Ford Explorer CO Issue 8-3-17

The following is a summary of our two press conferences that were held today in Auburn MA related to the Ford Explorer Carbon Monoxide (CO) issue.

A total of 13 Town Ford Explorer and Interceptor vehicles tested positive yesterday for elevated levels of CO. 10 vehicles from Police, 2 from Fire and 1 from the Department of Public Works.

A total of 6 Police Officers were sent to the hospital with elevated levels of CO, 1 emergent following a motor vehicle accident and 5 as a precaution. The Police Chief ordered all officers in the department be tested. All officers were released from the hospital yesterday and are doing fine.

Town officials held a meeting with Ford Engineers in Auburn this morning to discuss the problem and our findings from yesterday’s testing conducted by the Fire Rescue Department. Those four Ford employees spent the day inspecting some of the 13 vehicles that tested positive. Not all vehicles were tested today and that testing will continue into tomorrow.

In addition, officials held a conference call this morning with Ford Engineers in Detroit to discuss the problem. Ford has committed to work with the Town of Auburn to rectify all issues and stated that the four Ford employees will remain in Auburn until the 13 vehicles are repaired and back on the road.

Today the Town placed an order of 50 SCOTT Protégé 2M single gas CO meters to be installed in all Ford Explorer and Interceptor vehicles as well as some additional vehicles in the towns fleet.

The Town has received several phone calls today from Police and Fire Departments from across the state inquiring what types of monitoring devices we have researched. Fire Officials are saying the manufacturer you choose is not important, the recommendation is a single gas, zero maintenance CO meter. What fire officials are saying is that residential CO detectors are not the proper application for this issue. The difference between these meters and a residential CO detector is the single gas meters are constantly monitoring for CO, where as a residential CO detector is activated due to long term exposure.

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Contact:

Stephen M. Coleman Jr., MPA, CFO

Chief of Department

Auburn Fire Rescue Department

47 Auburn St.

Auburn, MA 01501

508-832-7800

scoleman@town.auburn.ma.us