Fatal Industrial Accident Adds to String of Incidents This Month – Everett Independent everettindependent.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from everettindependent.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fire Chief Tony Carli appeared before the Council Monday night to discuss the first month of the new program to cross-train new firefighters as EMTs – noting that all 18 had been hired and are now working with Cataldo Ambulance for training, though he did not that though they are City employees they are not specifically assigned to Everett.
The plan is a strategic plan that has been in the works for several years, and Mayor Carlo DeMaria and the chief put the plan into place on April 5 when they hired 18 new people to begin the road to a new in-house ambulance/fire service – since most of the Fire Department calls are medically related, Carli said.
A massive brush fire, fueled by the ignition of Phragmites via a homeless encampment near the Gateway Mall, has brought an immediate effort to identify and clear the invasive Phragmites from Everett’s waterfront and marsh areas.
The fire on April 6 came just as officials, including the City Administration, Fire Chief Tony Carli and State Rep. Joe McGonagle had been calling for the removal of the Phragmites near the Gateway Mall as a safety measure.
However, facing some pushback from the state, nothing had gotten done and soon after the blaze ignited and threatened many of the nearby structures – and potentially the lives of firefighters who were unknowingly in harm’s way from the homeless encampment’s stash of propane tanks.