Thermometer Cause of HazMat Response

Incident was minor, but fire department used all precautions. No one was ever in any danger.

  Last night Patch reported a mercury spill on Pond St. that required a Tier 1 hazmat. The spill was quickly contained, and Westwood Police said that the incident had no effect on traffic, as no roads were being closed. The spill was in fact mercury, and the reason it was contained so quickly was because there was so little of it. In fact, the mercury came from a broken thermometer inside a home on Pond St. "In order to recover mercury, you need a spill kit," Westwood Fire Chief William Scoble said. "You have to come in and measure it and package it. It was very minor." So minor, in fact, that the fire department showed the resident how to dispose of the mercury properly themselves, instead of disposing of it for them.

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Hazmat: Mercury Spill on Pond Street Contained

A Mercury Spill on Pond Street was quickly contained, making it so there was no hazard to people in the area.

A Tier 1 Hazmat occured around 30 minutes ago on Pond St. when there was a mercury spill. The spill was quickly contained, and no roads needed to be closed because people in the area were not at any risk, according to Westwood Police. Receive updates to this story and other breaking news in your inbox or smartphone by signing up for our newsletter here

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Man Pinned Under Tree During Yard Work

A medical helicopter flew him to a Boston hospital.

A man helping his brother-in-law with yard work was pinned by the legs under a tree on Nahatan Street today. The victim was "cutting down a tree, and it snapped away and hit him," Westwood Fire Capt. Steven Lund said tonight. Westwood firefighters lifted the tree off the victim before a medical helicopter flew him to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Lund said. The incident happened at 187 Nahatan St. at 4:15 p.m., Lund said.

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PHOTO GALLERY: Kids Have a Blast with Fireman's Foam

The annual Fireman's Foam event in which Westwood Fire Department sets up a field of suds for children was another successful summer event this year.

Children gathered to frolic in the foam at Sheehan Elementary School July 11 for this year's annual summer event - Fireman's Foam. The Westwood Fire Department flooded the athletic field with a pile of sudsy bubbles and also set up sprinklers in which the kids played and rinsed off. According to Mike Griffin of the Westwood Recreation Department, this was the 25th annual Fireman's Foam event in Westwood.

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WFD to Add Spare Ambulance to Fleet

The ambulance will not be fully-equipped, but will help in the case of an emergency.

Westwood fire officials are about to add a new ambulance to their fleet of emergency response vehicles.  The Westwood Board of Selectmen gave Fire Chief William Scoble the green light on Monday to acquire a used ambulance to the town's fleet.  "This would be a spare vehicle," Scoble explained to the Selectmen. "Not a vehicle that's fully equipped, because equipment costs far more than the vehicle." Officials will store smaller, baseline equipment on the vehicle, Scoble said. The ambulance features a 2006 chassis with a 2007 model modular box, and has clocked about 90,000 miles, Scoble said. Most of those miles, he added, were clocked on the highway. The vehicle's body work is in need of some touch-ups, but does not require a paint job. The…

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UPDATE: Westwood PD Investigating Pedestrian Hit-And-Run [PHOTOS, VIDEO]

A 26-year-old woman was struck on Washington Street shortly before 9 p.m. Monday.

[Update: 7:33 a.m.] - Westwood Police are on the look out for what they believe to be a mid-sized white or light-colored sedan with a moon roof after a hit-and-run accident left one pedestrian seriously injured Monday night. The accident occured on Washington Street shortly before 9 p.m. Monday night, when 26-year-old Jillian Belanger was struck while crossing the street with her dog. The vehicle fled the scene without stopping, Westwood Police said Tuesday morning. Belanger was transported by ambulance to a Boston hospital with serious injuries, according to Westwood Police, and she remains hospitalized as of Tuesday morning. The vehicle involved most-likely sustained front-end damage with a broken headlight as a result of the incident. …

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Car Fire, Rollover Among Hartford St. Accidents Thursday

No injuries were sustained in either incident.

It was a busy afternoon Thursday for the Westwood Police and Fire Departments.   Police responded to a report of a rollover accident involving a 2007 Toyota at around 3:36 p.m. Thursday along Hartford Street.  The driver, according to police, had been avoiding a solar glare while on the road, and while attempting to stay in her lane, struck a lanscaping trailer that was parked on the road, which resulted in the car rolling over. The operator was transported to an area hospital for precautionary measures; the vehicle sustained extensive damage on all sides.  Less than two hours later, at around 5:12 p.m., crews responded to the road again, this time for a report of a fully-involved vehicle fire. The driver of a 1989 Porsche 911 was not …

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Brush Fire Dies Down After Scorching 20 Acres in Dedham

Westwood fire crews assisted Dedham, while two fire trucks roamed the Greenlodge and Manor neighborhoods Thursday night into Friday morning.

A brush fire that tore through an estimated 20 acres of land on the Dedham-Boston line had died down significantly by 11 p.m. Thursday evening, a Dedham fire official said. The fire started at about 5:50 p.m., and calls flooded into the dispatch center at the Dedham Police Department, with reports that the smoke could be seen for miles away.  The Westwood Fire Department's Squad 1, Squad 2 and Engine 5 responded to assist Dedham in the fire on Thursday, while the Walpole Fire Department covered the Westwood station. The black smoke billowed high into the sky, leading neighbors to speculate about the fire's cause. At times the fire flared up to 15 feet into the air just 300 yards away from homes on Hastings Road, officials said. Dedham Fire…

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Fire Chief: Camp Fire Caused Blaze Behind Morgan Farm Road

The source behind the fire is under investigation, officials said Thursday.

A camp fire is to blame for the three-acre blaze that struck the woods behind Morgan Farm Roadon Wednesday, Westwood Fire Chief William Scoble said.  The fire is currently under investigation, Scoble said in regards to who may have started the camp fire.  Westwood fire crews were assisted by those in Dover and Norwood, while the Walpole Fire Department covered both stations in Westwood. The State Forestry Service was on-hand as well.  Fire crews were on site for about five and a half hours Wednesday, and plan to return to the scene today to see if any hot spots are remaining.  No injuries were reported as a result of the fire, nor was the blaze of any danger to homes in the area. "It was pretty inaccessible," Scoble said. "It was tough …

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