Cross-border firefighting

Sometimes Borderline writes about cross-border crime involving people from Newton and Waltham, but I'd also like to point out how neighbors and the two cities help each other out. This evening there was a fire on Dana Rd. (correction: Cambria Road!) which straddles the border, about halfway between Franklin Elementary in Newton and Whittemore Elementary in Waltham. A two-family house was heavily damaged in a manner of minutes. I heard the sirens at about quarter of six, saw the smoke a few minutes later, and arrived just before six, at which point it was already under control, but had totalled the upper story of the house -- as someone standing in a nearby driveway told me, "it happened so fast."

I am still not sure in which city the fire occured. My map points to Waltham, but a Newton cop said it was in Newton.

Regardless of where the fire happened, there were a few things that really impressed Borderline about how it was handled. First was the concern shown by all the neighbors in our area. Everyone wanted to know if the people inside were OK, or if anyone was hurt. Second, was how well the Newton and Waltham Fire Departments worked to put it out. As the photo shows, a Waltham engine and a Newton ladder truck were the first to arrive, judging by their positions directly in front of the house. There wasn't any bureaucratic haggling about where the border was, or which city had responsibility, the firefighters just worked together to get the flames down as quickly as possible.

Good job, firefighters.