Burlington to Enter Into State-Wide Emergency Mutual Aid Programs

The Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 (Chairman Walter Zenkin was absent) to enter into the Statewide Public Safety Mutual Aid and Public Works Mutual Aid laws.

The Burlington Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 (Chair Walter Zenkin being absent) on Monday night to enter into the Statewide Public Safety Mutual Aid and the Public Works Municipal Mutual Aid laws at the recommendation of Police Chief Michael Kent, Fire Chief Steven Yetman and Public Works Superintendent John Sanchez. The three department heads prepared a letter for the board and Town Administrator Robert Mercier that encouraged the administration to agree to entering into the state-wide agreement. "After reviewing of the ... letter from Kurt N. Schwarz, MEMA Undersecretary for Homeland Security & Emergency Management Director in which he urges all cities and town in the commonwealth to opt-in to these mutual aid statues, we strongly …

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Area Under Winter Storm Warning Tonight

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for parts of the state, including Burlington.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for parts of Middlesex County, including Burlington, Essex County and northern Rhode Island in effect from 6 p.m. this evening until 8 a.m. Sunday morning. According to the NWS, the warning was issued in anticipation of a winter storm that could bring four to eight inches of snow accumulation. The warning states the storm could bring strong winds and heavy snow. "A mixture of rain and snow will overspread the region from the southwest to the northeast this afternoon and into the evening," the warning stations. Initially rain is expected to change into heavy snow which could be "heavy at times," that will "taper off Sunday morning." The NWS states the storm could result in tree …

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Get Out

Looking for Things to do This Weekend? We Have You Covered

Suggestions on what to do this weekend in and around Burlington.

It’s Thursday, and you’ve got no idea what you’ll do for the weekend. Patch is coming to the rescue. We’ve got the best bets for your done-work-outta-here time. Check our picks for the activities to hit and new bars/restaurants/shops to explore. 1. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALE Where/when: Burlington Public Library; Friday from 12 to 5:30 p.m., Saturday from 10:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Why go: Get great discounts on a wide variety of books and support the library. All books, DVDs, music CDs and audio-books are $1 (except Children's paperbacks 2 for $1).  Sunday is "Buy a Bag Day" — fill a brown paper bag and pay what you think it's worth ($3 minimum), or buy a big canvas Friends' bag for $10 and fill it for…

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Donning Pink to Fight Breast Cancer

Last week the members of the Burlington Fire Department wore pink shirts to raise awareness of breast cancer and cancer research.

Firefighters often don some cool equipment and clothing while responding to emergencies and saving lives. Last week residents may have seen members of the Burlington Fire Department and Burlington Firefighters Local 2313 sporting a different type of uniform, though the goal of saving lives was the same. They were all wearing pink T-shirts to raise awareness about breast cancer.  "The whole department has been affected in one way or another with this disease and we wanted to show support and raise awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness Month," said Todd Ficociello. Firefighter Michael Runyan said some of the guys were a little uncertain when they first saw the bright pink shirts, but everyone was on board to help with the fund drive. …

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Selectmen Approve Three New Additions to Fire Department Permanent Intermittent List

The vote was taken during the meeting on Monday, Oct. 17.

The Burlington Board of Selectmen approved three candidates at the recommendation of Fire Department Chief Steven Yetman for the department's Permanent Intermittent list during the meeting on Monday, Oct. 17. Being placed on the list allows the men to attend Fire Academy training and then be in line to fill vacancies in the department when necessary.  Yetman said the fire department currently has one vacancy that needs to be filled and it is known that there will be a retirement of one firefighter this November and another next February. "With pending retirements we anticipate vacancies in the near future," Yetman said in a letter to the board. "In order to avoid extended periods of short staffing and to expedite the selection process …

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Low-Speed Motorcycle Accident on Winn Street This Morning

An accident involving a motorcycle resulted in the operator being transported to hospital for minor injuries.

A slow-speed accident involving a motorcycle this morning resulted in minor injuries for the operator.  According to Lt. Jim Browne of the Burlington Fire Department at 8:56 a.m. this morning emergency crews responded to a call of a motor vehicle accident at the Dunkin Donuts at 28 Winn Street. Browne said a car pulling out of the donut shop swiped a motorcycle traveling towards Burlington.  Browne described the accident as "slow moving" and said the female operator of the vehicle was transported to Lahey Clinic with minor injuries.  "Luckily, she was moving at a low speed," he said. "There were only minor injuries, especially for a motorcycle accident."  Burlington Patch does not yet know if the driver of the car will be charged in …

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Small Fire in Old Memorial School Gymnasium Under Investigation

Chief Yetman of the Burlington Fire Department calls small fire "suspicious"

A small fire in the old Memorial Elementary School building this evening is currently under investigation by both Burlington Police and Fire Departments.  According to Burlington Fire Chief Steven Yetman, a call came in at 6:57 p.m. this evening concerning a fire in the old Memorial School building. Yetman said when firefighters arrived on the scene they found a small fire on a stage in the building's gymnasium. The fire was creeping up one corner of the stage wall.  Firefighters were able to get into the building quickly and extinguish the flames in short order. "It was easy to get in, the building is about to be torn down and everything is open," Yetman said. "We had the fire out in a matter of minutes."  Yetman said the firefighters …

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Burlington: A Week in Review

A look back on Burlington stories covered this week by Burlington Patch.

This was a busy week in Burlington and so a busy week here at Patch. In case you missed any of our stories, here are some of the highlights and links to our articles to help you catch up. We started the week with coverage of Burlington's Fourth of July celebration, which included a parade and fun events on the Town Commons. We also had a video round-up of area Independence Day celebrations featuring images and videos from Burlington and neighboring towns.  Also early in the week we had a video of Burlington's Fire and Police Departments using the old Memorial Elementary School building to train in opening doors for emergency responses.  In more school-building related news, Barbara L'Heureux had a piece with updates on the Marshall Simonds…

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VIDEO: Burlington Fire and Police Breaking Down Doors at Memorial

The Burlington Fire and Police Departments took advantage of the soon-to-be-destroyed Memorial Elementary School building to practice gaining entry to locked buildings.

The Burlington Police and Fire Departments decided to get a jump start on the demolition of the old Memorial Elementary School building.  Members from each department spent time last week training at the school. They took advantage of it's imminent destruction by using it as practice for how to gain entry into a locked building. Wielding Wielding a variety of tools they forced entry through locked doors.  Members of both departments said this was a valuable training exercise. See our video for a full description. 

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Burlington Fire Departments Promotes Two of its Own

The Burlington Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the promotion of two Fire Department members

The main hearing room at Town Hall was packed with family, friends and fellow fire fighters on Monday, June 25 as the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the promotion of two members of the Burlington Fire Department.  Department member Andy Connerty was promoted to Fire Training Captain and Jack Walthall was promoted to Fire Lieutenant. The board, impressed with the credentials of the newly-promoted members, voted to waive the 15-day waiting period that is normally a condition of new appointments.  The two were promoted at the recommendation of Chief Steve Yetman. The chief explained that there were two applicants for each position and the only difficulty in the process was choosing between four highly-qualified and capable members of his…

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