Crime & Safety

Customers Complain Restaurant Over Capacity, Firefighters Disagree

The following are excerpts from the Chelmsford Fire Department log for the week of Sept. 21 to 28, 2013

 

Sept. 22, 12:09 a.m. – Customers at a restaurant near Central Square complained to the Fire Department, saying that it was overcrowded and possibly in violation of occupancy codes.

Shortly after the call, Fire Department officials arrived on the scene and informed the manager on call that they had received complaints.

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After a count of customers and staff, there were 20 people found, within the limit for that building.

Sept. 24, 8:51 a.m. – Reports came into the Fire Department that a commercial building on Littleton Road people in the area said they could smell natural gas.

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The building was evacuated and it was determined that the smell was coming from a restaurant within the building where someone had left a kitchen stove burner on.

Although the door was locked, firefighters forced entry into the kitchen and began to ventilate the room, later notifying the business owner once they arrived.

National Grid arrived later for further investigation.

Sept. 25, 6:40 p.m. – Firefighters were dispatched to Columbia Road near North Road for a potential fire. Ultimately, the fire came from construction debris in the area, which was extinguished before firefighters could arrive on the scene.

Sept. 26, 11:12 p.m. – Alarms at a two family home on Newfield Street drew four Fire Department units to the scene. However, upon arrival nothing could be found immediately by firefighters.

Tenants assembled in the yard said that all smoke detectors in the home were activated, and firefighters did eventually smell something that smelled like it had been burning recently.

Although doors to the residence were jammed and windows were locked, upon accessing the inside of the building, firefighters discovered a pan with something inside it that had burned out and had filled the house with smoke and high heat.

There was no monetary damage to the home.

Sept. 28, 9:31 p.m. – A residence on Littleton Road was evacuated after residents reported the odor of gas inside their home.

After ten minutes of investigation, it was discovered that a furnace was the cause of the odor, with National Grid arriving on scene four minutes after that to address the problem.

 


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