Firefighters (out of frame on the right) spray water on the fire in Wayland. Photo courtesy Lincoln Fire Department
Firefighters from multiple towns converged on Main Street in Wayland at the intersection of West Plain Street on the afternoon of October 3 to extinguish a blaze that destroyed the auto body shop where it started.
The brick front wall of the shop collapsed during the four-alarm fire, and there were several explosions inside. Two other stores on either side of International Auto Body, Liberty Pizza of Cochituate and Wayland Town Cleaners, did not catch fire, but their condition is uncertain as of Wednesday. Five employees and a dog who were inside got outside safely.
The Lincoln Fire Department posted a short video on its Facebook page of one of its engines, sirens blaring, pulling up to the scene. WBZ-TV aired footage of flames shooting our of the building and engulfing a car parked in front.
“We initially responded when they struck a second alarm, to cover their Station 2” as specified in the mutual aid agreement, said Lincoln firefighter Caleb Hagarty. “However, as soon as we signed on, we were moved up to the fire due to multiple incidents in the district, so we were one of the early companies on scene. We took the four members of the duty crew in Engine 3 and went to work multiple times with hand lines and fire tools, working to assist Wayland defensively in keeping damage as low as possible.”
The Lincoln fire station was covered by off-duty lincoln firefighters during the incident.