Methuen is a city with a population of 41,000, located about 25 miles north of
Boston on the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. It is one of several contiguous communities
located in the Merrimac River Valley. The 24 square-mile city is similar to many of the older industrial cities in New England, with densely built manufacturing complexes
directly adjacent to crowded residential areas. These communities have a high level of fire
risk and have experienced many major fires in similar complexes over the past century.
The cities of Salem, New Hampshire and Lawrence, Massachusetts border
Methuen on the north and south. The dividing line between Methuen and Lawrence
bisects the Malden Mills complex and passes through the building where the fire originated,
while the boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire is less than 2
miles north of the fire scene.
The Methuen Fire Department has 96 career personnel and operates four stations
with a normal complement of 19 personnel on duty. An engine company with 3 crew
members is assigned to each station, in addition to a rescue squad, a BLS ambulance
and a ladder truck which all respond from the Central Fire Station. A Deputy Chief is in
charge of each shift and has an assigned driver. In 1994 the department responded to
1,943 fire and 2,475 EMS calls.
Mutual aid is available from several adjacent communities, including Lawrence
and Salem, as well as a large number of career and volunteer fire departments in the
Merrimac Valley area. Automatic mutual aid responses are designated for multiple
alarms throughout the region. The Haverhill Communications Center normally coordinates
responses and coverage for incidents that go beyond a 4th alarm level.
Emergency medical service is operated as a two-tier system, with the Methuen
Fire Department providing initial response and BLS ambulance service. Advanced life
support is provided by hospital-based paramedic units, which are dispatched by CMED,
a regional communications and coordination center operated by NorthEast Emergency
Medical Services, a non-profit corporation. The ALS units respond to incidents when
requested by the local jurisdiction and the paramedics accompany patients in the fire
department ambulances. The ALS vehicles do not have transport capabilities.
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