The Westwood Fire Department responded to three significant fires over the weekend of December 12-14, requiring emergency recalls of off-duty personnel for each incident and prompting department officials to highlight ongoing staffing shortages.
The busiest call came on Friday night at Fox Hill Village, a five-story, 350-unit elderly housing residence. A dryer fire on the third floor extended into an apartment. Firefighters from Westwood and mutual aid from Dedham controlled the blaze quickly, but an activated sprinkler caused water damage to multiple units above and below, temporarily displacing residents.
Crews remained on scene for hours to perform salvage operations, using tarps and pools to limit water damage. A ladder truck was staffed by off-duty firefighters who responded to the station after a “Box 12” was struck — a special alert to recall personnel. A Norwood engine covered Westwood’s stations during the operation.
The following 48 hours brought two more fires and two more recalls. On Saturday, crews extinguished an exterior house fire caused by improperly discarded fireplace ashes. On Sunday, firefighters stopped a multi-car fire from extending to a nearby home.
In statements released by the department, officials pointed to the weekend’s volume to illustrate staffing challenges. They referenced NFPA 1710, the national standard for career fire department response, which recommends an initial response of 22–28 firefighters for a high-risk occupancy like Fox Hill Village, and 15 firefighters for a single-family dwelling.
Department analysis noted that the Fox Hill response was below that high-risk benchmark, and the Saturday house fire response was below the single-family dwelling standard. The repeated use of “Box 12” recalls to bring off-duty firefighters to the stations was cited as evidence of the strain.
The department also used the Saturday fire to remind residents to dispose of ashes safely: by letting them cool for 24–48 hours, placing them only in a metal container with a tight lid, and storing the container outside away from structures.
While proud of firefighters' performance, department officials stated that relying on frequent off-duty recalls and mutual aid is not a sustainable long-term solution for public safety. The incidents are presented as a real-world example of staffing shortages affecting fire departments across the state.
