Belmont High Will Be In Session Tuesday Despite Early Morning Fire Monday

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Photo: Crews cleaning the room where a floor cleaning machine was destroyed by fire early Monday morning, May 25.

Belmont High School will be open on Tuesday, May 26, a day after a fire in a storage room next to the school’s auditorium destroyed a floor-cleaning machine and damaged the room.

“The fire started shortly before two o’clock this morning and [the entire] company went down there for an alarm investigation,” said Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell.

“When they got there, they found smoke coming from a custodial storage room underneath the back end of the auditorium outside the hallway that runs from the cafeteria and the music department,” said Frizzell.

In flames was a battery-operated floor maintenance machine used to clean and wash the school’s floors. It’s suspected an overheated battery caused the fire. The arriving companies stretched hose lines into the building to reach the area.

The blaze destroyed the machine and resulted in smoke and water damage to the room and a thick, smokey odor throughout in the auditorium and the immediate area, said Frizzell.

In an unrelated issue, a water pipe in the recirculation system in the adjacent room “let go” resulting in the water being shut off, he said.

By early Monday afternoon, building maintenance had opened all the doors to the school and positioned fans to clear the smoke from the premise. 

“Early this morning, the odor was overpowering. Now it’s so much better,” said Angela Braun, Belmont’s Health Department Director, as she visited the site.

Inside, members from a professional service company were scrubbing the walls and floors of the damaged room as water service was returned to the building. 

The fire comes as the town’s Capital Budget Committee prepares to replace the existing 40 year old alarm system the Fire Department said is past its useful life. The $1 million price tag to replace the system drained the entire bonding capacity provided to Capital Budget in this year’s $4.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 override. 

Belmont Police Unveil Traffic/Parking Plan for PGA Tournament

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Photo: Belmont Police Capt. Peter Hoerr talking with a resident during a public meeting,

When suggesting what residents in and around Winter Street can do to assist police when a PGA golf tournament come to the Belmont Country Club next month, Belmont Police Assistant Chief James MacIsaac said that week might be “a good time to open the summer house and go to the Cape,” to chuckles in the room. 

The good natured quip to the 15 residents who attended the community meeting at the Belmont Hill School on Thursday, May 14, spoke volumes about some of the challenges facing homeowners in what is being called “the triangle” of streets and roads adjacent the club and Marsh and Winter streets beginning Tuesday, June 9 and lasting (weather permitting) until Sunday, June 14, when 8,000 people will descend daily on Belmont attending the PGA Tour Constellation Senior Championship.  

“There are a lot of moving parts in this plan and along the way there has been challenges for the PGA to do the plan correctly,” said Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin to the residents.

“So I want to know your concerns and we’ll work to alleviate those [issues],” McLaughlin said. 

The most significant of the week-long change will be the closure of Winter Street, a main thoroughfare from Belmont into and out of Lexington and Route 2. The street, according to BPD Capt. Peter Hoerr (who has been coordinating the effort between the town and suppliers), will be closed from:

  • Tuesday, June 9 – 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 
  • Wednesday, June 10 – 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, June 11 – 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • Friday, June 12 – 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, June 13 – 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, June 14 – 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Closing Winter Street will also result in the popular Route 2 Exit 56 East to be shut down, with traffic being directed to use Exit 55 onto Pleasant Street in Lexington. This detour will result in traffic that usually travels on Winter will shift over to Concord Avenue. 

In addition to Winter, Marsh Street will be closed to non-residential motorists who are looking for Winter, Route 2, Lexington or Concord and Robinwood Road will be posted “Do Not Enter” at Concord Avenue. Hough Road residents will also be impacted.

While there will be restrictions to through traffic, residents in the impacted area will still be able to get to their homes by flashing a Mass Driver’s License with the current address visible.

“Residents will have easy access to their homes,” said Hoerr, who added that the department is developing a system of visitor passes for residents to have guests during the tournament. 

During the tournament, there will also be temporary “no parking” restrictions on the following streets:

  • Concord Avenue
  • Country Club Lane
  • Dundonald Road
  • Greenbrook Way
  • Grey Birch Park
  • Greybirch Circle
  • Hough Road
  • Marsh Street (between Concord Avenue and Country Club Lane)
  • Partridge Lane 
  • Rayburn Road
  • Robinwood Road
  • Winter Street 

Ticketholders will park at Bentley College in Waltham and arrive at the tournament via shuttle bus. Volunteers who need to park will be picked up at Minuteman Regional High School in Lexington. VIP and players parking will be at the club and at St Camillus in Arlington. There will also be shuttle buses from Alewife station.

Belmont Man Held in Cambridge Stabbing That Left Victim in Serious Condition

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Photo: The Plough and Star in Cambridge.

Cambridge Police arrest a Belmont man early Saturday morning, May 9, after he allegedly stabbed a man in the stomach during a fight late Friday night at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Hancock Street near the The Plough and Stars pub in Central Square, according to multiple news outlets.

Frank Fraumeni, 65, of White Street, was arrested by Cambridge Police after stopping his car on Harvard Street near where the incident occurred. He was identified as the assaliant by eyewitnesses to the fracas. 

Officers were alerted of a fight at approximately 11:15 p.m., Friday, May 8. They arrived to find the unnamed victim on the ground bleeding. He was taken to an area hospital with a serious wound. 

Fraumeni is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to murder, according to police sources. It is unknown when Fraumeni will be arraigned. 

Three Fire Department ‘Newbies’ Brings Belmont’s Staffing to 2009 Levels

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Photo: Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman (from left) swears in Ryan Keane, Andrew Butler and Charles Gerrard as Belmont’s newest firefighters.

Belmont’s Fire Department has three “newbies” among its ranks starting last week.

Charles Gerrard, Andrew Butler, and Ryan Keane were appointed as firefighters on Monday, March 16 by Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell, and sworn in by Town Clerk Ellen Cushman at the Town Hall in a brief ceremony.

The three new firefighters are also Massachusetts-certified paramedics. After their initial training, they will be sent to the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy in Stow to participate in the nine week Career Recruit Training Program. While assigned at the academy, they will study firefighting strategy and tactics, fire ground evolutions, motor vehicle extrication, search and rescue, and hazardous materials mitigation among numerous other topics.

“We welcome the new firefighters and are looking forward to working with them. We wish them a long healthy and safe career with us,” said Frizzell.

These new firefighters are being hired as part of a Federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant to restore lost firefighter positions, bringing the department back to its 2009 staffing level of 57-and-a-half full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.  This level is still 23-and-a-half FTE positions lower than the department’s historic staffing level of 82 full-time employees and two part-time employees.

Belmont Fire Log: An Act of Kindness for a Belmont Senior

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Outside, looking in

March 8 – Just about half past noon, a fire crew headed to a residence on Simmons Avenue to help yet another resident who found themselves locked out of their home.

Search on a cold night

March 9 – A hair before 6 p.m., Engine 1 and the Rescue truck took off towards a house on Beech Street after someone reported seeing a person in a nearby snow bank. Crews took the call quite serious as the call came from a group house for people needing assistance in their daily lives. When the firefighters got there, they couldn’t find anyone in the area. In addition, everyone at the group home was accounted for. The person who made the call told the crews that the person who he spotted in the snow had left the location.

Boiler blowout

March 10 – A couple of minutes after 1 a.m., a fire squad responded to a report of gushing water in house on Greybirch Park. The team discovered that the boiler had cracked and water was leaking out. The heating system was shut down.

Time for spring cleaning

March 11 – Just before half past 11 a.m., firefighters arrived at a Centre Avenue house after they got a report the fire alarm had gone off. Turns out workers doing renovations had kicked up enough dust to accidentally activated the smoke detector.

Going above and beyond

March 13 – It was too early in the morning, just after 3 a.m. when the dispatcher received a call from a disabled resident needing help. The Engine 1 crew arrived a cold Slade Street two-family where they found a man in his 70s sitting in a chair in the living room, a walker close at hand. The resident told the firefighters he was unsure how to use the digital wall thermostat and could the crew turn up the heat in the apartment. The firefighters showed the resident how to adjust the thermostat and waited for the heat to return. While the elderly man denied that he needed any other assistance at the moment, the firefighters encouraged him to call back when the need arises.

Major Detour on Trapelo Road on Wednesday, March 18

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Photo: A map of the detour in effect on Wednesday, March 18.

If your daily commute runs through Cushing Square, give yourself extra time Wednesday, March 18 as road construction will reduce vehicle and bus traffic on Trapelo Road to a single, outbound lane – towards Waltham – between Common Street and the intersection of Belmont Street beginning at 7 a.m.

The detour will end at 3 p.m.

As a result, inbound traffic towards Cambridge will be sent on a detour at Cushing Square going onto Common Street to Belmont Street, and re-enter Trapelo Road at the intersection of Belmont Street.

The detour will impact a single #73 bus stop, located at 36 Trapelo Rd. near Moozy’s.

It Must Be Spring: Limited Snow Parking Ban Lifted, Park Anywhere

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Spring has arrived.

Despite receiving two inches of snow on Sunday night, Saturday morning which resulted in the region breaking the most snowfall in a winter season with more than 108 inches, the Belmont Police Department and the town of Belmont  “are pleased to announce” the end of the limited parking ban “effective immediately.”

The ban, which has been in effect along with an emergency parking ban, for nearly seven weeks since Jan. 27 when the first in a series of blizzards/winter storms past through the metro-Boston area.

“Although the roads are significantly wider due to melting we do ask that you use care when parking to make sure there is enough room for emergency vehicles to pass,” according to police. 

Belmont Fire Log: Stuck in the Fire House, Town Hall All Wet

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Editor’s Note: The photo initially used to illustrate this article is a copyright image by an established photographer used without his permission or compensation. The selection of the image was inadvertent and an error that this publication regrets.

Locked out

March 2 – Just after 3 p.m., firefighters headed over to Creeley Road where they helped a resident who locked himself out of his house.

All that snow

March 4 – Right at 11 a.m., Engine 1 was dispatched to Greybirch Park house for a water leak in the ceiling. The homeowner was informed to have her electrical wiring and ceiling checked by licensed professionals.

It happens

March 4 – At 10 minutes ’til noon, the elevator in the Fire Department’s Trapelo Road headquarters suddenly stalled, stranding a few people in the cab. It didn’t take long for firefighter’s to “extricated” the occupants as they only had to travel a few feet to the location of the incident. 

Your neighbor’s fire

March 4 – At a quarter ’til 9 p.m., Engine 1 went to investigate the reported outdoor odor of smoke outside a house on Brookside Avenue. Turns out a next-door neighbor was using his fireplace. 

Lunchtime mishap

March 5 – At a quarter ’til 1 p.m., fire crews were sent to a business on Pleasant Street for a possible fire. It turned out that the blaze was confined to food container.

Town Hall all wet

March 7 – At 9:18 a.m., Engines 1 and 2, the ladder truck and Rescue 1 were dispatched to Belmont Town Hall after a report the fire sprinkler was operating. The Engine 2 crew didn’t find a fire or smoke but did discover the sprinkler head in the first-floor vestibule spraying water everywhere. The system was shut down despite the fact that firefighters were unable to gain access to the main alarm panel room. Town employees said he would take care of access issues. The elevator was also locked and tagged due to water in the shaft.

 

 

 

‘Grim’ News for Heroin Dealer Arrested in Belmont

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Photo: Belmont Police K9 Officer Corey Taylor and Grim.

A Boston man was arrested Friday morning, Feb. 27 by Belmont police – with a big assist from the department’s K9 officer, Grim – for allegedly selling heroin in Belmont.

The arrest of Harrison Soto-Zuazo, 34, of Jamaica Plain, came after Belmont police received complaints from resident of street-level drug deals being conducted in town, according to the Belmont Police.

Belmont Police Det. Michael Pugliese, along with members of the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force, conducted a investigation that led to a search warrant being issued for Soto-Zuazo’s motor vehicle.

At 11:43 a.m. Friday, detectives observed Soto-Zuazo operating his vehicle on Pleasant Street. After stopping Soto-Zuazo’s vehicle and not finding any illegal narcotics, detectives called Belmont Police K9 Officer Corey Taylor and Grim. The K9 officer performed a search of the vehicle and Taylor reported to the detectives that Grim had given an indication that there were narcotics in the rear portion of the center console. Examining the console closer, detectives discovered an aftermarket modification that revealed a “hide” inside the vehicle. Inside detectives discovered 68 grams of heroin.

Soto-Zuazo was charged with trafficking in heroin, furnishing a false name, refusing to identify himself, use of a false RMV document and operating on a suspended license.

 

Despite No Snow in Forecast, Belmont’s Limited Parking Ban Still in Effect

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While the next few days will see highs in the 30s and sunny skies, the impact of more than 90 inches of snow continues as most Belmont side streets continue to be single-lane roads.

For that reason, the Belmont Police advises residents that the Limited Parking Ban will remain in effect until further notice.

Under the ban, parking is only allowed on the odd-numbered side of the street unless the street has been listed as exempt.

The ban is necessary for public safety. The roads are not wide enough for public safety vehicles and school busses to get down when vehicles are parked on both sides. To avoid being ticketed and towed do not park on the even numbered side of the street.

Please refer to the town’s web site for a complete list of exempt streets.