Structure Fire – 48 Park Street

At 3:34 p.m. today, August 22, the Essex Junction Fire Department was dispatched with automatic mutual aid from Essex Fire and Essex Rescue to 48 Park Street for a reported fire alarm activation and smoke coming from a first-floor balcony.

Car 9 arrived approximately three minutes after dispatch. The Incident Commander reported smoke showing from the Delta side of the building and requested a second-alarm assignment, bringing additional resources from Williston Fire Department, St. Michael’s Fire & Rescue, Vermont Air National Guard Fire Department, and Winooski Fire Department.

During a 360-degree assessment of the building, Command identified a first-floor apartment with smoke pushing from a window and heavy smoke conditions obscuring the rear sliding glass door.

Upon arrival, Ladder 3 was assigned to fire attack. Its crew entered the first floor, established a fire suppression line from the building’s standpipe system, and made entry into the involved apartment.

Crews found that the building’s automatic fire sprinkler system had activated and successfully held the fire in check. Firefighters quickly extinguished the remaining fire while Ladder 3 personnel conducted a primary search of the apartment and confirmed that no occupants remained inside.

Additional crews searched the floors above the fire, ventilated smoke from the building, worked to limit water damage, and conducted overhaul, salvage, and fire investigation operations.

The investigation determined that the fire was accidental and originated from combustible materials stored too close to an electric stovetop.

No civilians or firefighters were injured. Residents of the unaffected apartments were able to return to their residences, and building management was on scene assisting residents following the incident.

Essex Junction Fire responded to the incident with Car 9, Ladder 3, and Engine 7, with 10 EJFD personnel responding to the call. As a paid-call fire department, our members respond from their homes, workplaces, and daily activities when called. This incident was the department’s fourth emergency response of the day.

Today’s fire also represents the third structure fire response in the City of Essex Junction in the past 17 days and the second involving a large, multi-story, multi-family residential building. Incidents of this size and complexity require significantly more personnel and resources than a typical emergency response and have resulted in an increased reliance on our surrounding mutual-aid departments.

The Essex Junction Fire Department is grateful for the continued response and support of our regional partners. The mutual-aid system allows departments throughout our region to combine personnel, apparatus, and specialized capabilities when an incident exceeds the resources available from any single community.

Today’s incident also demonstrates the importance of properly maintained fire protection systems in multi-family buildings. The building’s automatic sprinkler system contained the fire until firefighters could arrive and complete extinguishment, significantly limiting fire spread and damage.