Police & Fire

City Employee Helps Woman to Safety in North End Fire

Burroughs Wharf Fire on August 3, 2017 (Photo by Joe Vozzella)

A 19-year veteran of the city’s Transportation Department, Jay Richards was “Johnny on the Spot” while on duty in the North End, when a fire broke out August 3rd on the 6th floor of a Burroughs Wharf condo.

The assistant parking enforcement supervisor ran down Battery Street, where he was knocking on doors, telling people to move their vehicles for the annual Saint Agrippina di Mineo feast later that evening.

He along with firefighters from the Harbor Unit, which operates out of the building maintenance staff, began banging on doors telling other residents know there was a fire in the structure.

Strapping the woman to a chair they managed to get her down six flights of stairs to safety.

Ironically, Richards the only person who wound up needing medical treatments after his asthma acted up and was taking to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was eventually released.

Firefighters determine the cause of the two-alarm fire was caused by spontaneous combustion of an adhesive left on the roof of the building.
The woman has returned to her condo.