THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2021 Page 15 FIRE MARSHAL | FROM PAGE 12 home. A cigarette in an ashtray on the rear deck of the home started the fire. No one was injured at this fire. Damage was estimated at $50,000. On March 16, 2021, at 4:48 p.m., the Templeton Fire Department was called to a smoking fire in a single-family home. The fire was started by discarded cigarettes igniting construction debris around the rear porch. No one was injured at this fire. Alarms were present and alerted the occupants. The home did not have sprinklers. Damage was estimated at $20,000. On April 19, 2020, a fire in two apartment buildings in New Bedford killed two men ages 40 and 49. It also displaced 40 other residents of two buildings. The fire was started in an alleyway by smoking materials that were dropped from an upper floor, landing in and igniting trash and debris near a dumpster. Fireworks fires increased nearly 200 percent last year “The possession and use of all fireworks by private citizens is illegal in Massachusetts,” said Ostroskey. This includes sparklers, party poppers, snappers, firecrackers and cherry bombs. “Leave fireworks to the professionals, and enjoy supervised displays,” he said. “It is illegal to purchase fireworks in another state and transport them into or possess them in Massachusetts,” he added. Last year fires from fireworks increased by 180 percent from 2019. At 3 a.m. on May 27, 2020, the exterior stairs of a two-family home in New Bedford were ignited by illegal fireworks. Damage from this fire was estimated at $3,000. Around 11 p.m. on June 14, 2020, the Worcester Fire Department responded to a fire in a triple-decker started by illegal fireworks. People were shooting off fireworks in the neighborhood, and one landed on and ignited the roof. Eleven people were displaced from their home. Smoke alarms failed to operate, and damages were estimated to be $145,739. On June 16, 2020, fireworks started a fire on the first floor porch of a two-family home in Springfield. Damages from this fire were estimated to be $10,000. On August 10, 2020, the Orange Fire Department and several surrounding communities responded to a brush fire on Tully Mountain in Orange. It took several days to put it out in the rugged terrain amid hot and humid weather. Remnants of fireworks and a campfire were found at the seat of the fire. Early on the morning of October 10, 2020, a fire in a sixunit apartment building in BosFIRE MARSHAL | SEE PAGE 21
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