Waltham Fire, Police Recognized For Cooper St. Fire Response

WALTHAM, MA — Earlier this month the Waltham City Council issued a resolution recognizing those who came to the aid of the city for the largest fire in Waltham's history, the 10 alarm Cooper Street Fire in July, especially the Waltham Fire Department and the Police Department.

Councilor Kathleen McMenimen read three pages of acknowledgements at a December meeting in an effort to acknowledge what she called the professional and the heroic efforts of the Waltham Fire Department in addition to the numerous fire departments that prevented the loss of life that day.

"This proclamation is to recognize the bravery of these firefighters.. and thank them," said outgoing City Clerk Russ Malone, who read another page of acknowledgement.

Councilors Kathleen McMenimen, Diane LeBlanc and Robert Logan submitted the resolution.

"There are bad people in this world but there are a lot more good ones," said Logan after McMenimen read the list of acknowledgements. "I was awakened from my slumber in the middle of the night.. and all of a sudden the electricity went out," he said. After checking twitter for a black out he said he only saw tweets about a fire and he said he remembered running to the front of the house and opening the door to see the "huge inferno." He said watching the fire department at work that next day was very impressive.

"Thanks for all you do!" tweeted out Councilor Carlos Vidal during the meeting.

The July 23 fire destroyed a 264-unit apartment building under construction, displaced hundreds of people for several hours as they had to evacuate their homes, and damaged two adjacent buildings and 20 cars. It was an estimated loss of $110 million, according to State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey, Ciccone, and Waltham Police Chief Keith MacPherson. Four firefighters were injured in the fire.

Ciccone said a fire of this magnitude with so many cities coming to fight it is rare, even for the Boston area.

In August the fire chief announced that there would be a reward for anyone who could help lead the police and fire investigators to the arsonist.

Previously on Patch:

Waltham Fire Ruled Arson, $100K Reward

Waltham building fire goes to 10 alarms: 'We're going to be here for a while'

Check out a photo gallery of the fire here

Photo up top of Waltham Fire Department's Chief Ciccone and Waltham Police Chief MacPherson courtesy City Councillor Carlos Vidal.