Mario Orangio

Watertown Says Goodbye to its Fire Chief Who Loved the WFD Almost as Much as His Family

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Friends, family and fellow firefighters packed St. Patrick’s Church Friday morning to say goodbye to Mario Orangio, a man who always had a smile on his face and who loved the Watertown Fire Department almost as much as he loved his family. 

The Watertown Fire Chief from February 2004 to October 2017, Orangio was as appointed chief when he was just 37. Father Matthew Conley, parochial vicar for St. Pat’s and Sacred Heart Catholic churches, who is also the Fire Department’s chaplain, said the pain of Orangio’s death was worsened by the fact that he was taken by pancreatic cancer at such a young age. “Adding to the sting of this day is that Mario was only 51 years old and battled a horrendous disease,” Conley said. “He was just too young.”

Police/Fire

Watertown Fire Department Hosting Open House for the Whole Family

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The Watertown Fire Department incites the public to their Open House for food, fun and learn about fire safety. The open house will be held Oct. 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fire Department Headquarters, 99 Main St., Watertown. The event features:

Station tours

Touch-a-(Fire) Truck

Meet Sparky the Fire Dog

Coffee and donuts courtesy of Dunkin’ Donuts

Pizza courtesy of Papa Gino’s

Auto extraction demonstration featuring the “Jaws of Life” at 11 a.m.

Valuable informational resources on making your home safe

Government

Memorial for Watertown’s Fallen Firefighter Approved by Town Council

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The corner near house where Firefighter Joseph Toscano lost his life during a fire will be named in his memory after the Town Council voted to approve the memorial. 

Town Council President Mark Sideris read the resolution to create the Joseph A. Toscano Memorial in East Watertown last week. “Be it resolved that the Town Council gratefully acknowledges the ultimate sacrifice made by Firefighter Joseph A. Toscano and hereby dedicates a memorial at the corner of Merrifield Avenue and Bigelow Avenue in honor of Firefighter Joseph A, Toscano,” Sideris read. The Council resolution directed Town Manager Michael Driscoll to work with Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis to design an appropriate sign and memorial. The fire that took Toscano’s life occurred in Kounelis’ district in the East End. She added that she believes it is important to have a memorial for a hero like Toscano.

Fallen Firefighter

Firefighters Salute Fallen Watertown Firefighter as He Begins His Final Trip Home

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Firefighters lined up to salute fallen Watertown Firefighter Joseph Toscano as he began his final farewell Saturday morning. Shortly after 8:30 a.m. Saturday, the body of the 21-year-veteran of the Watertown Fire Department was transferred from Mount Auburn Hospital – where he was taken after collapsing at a fire on Merrifield Avenue and pronounced dead – to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Boston where the cause of death will be determined. https://twitter.com/BostonDotCom/status/843114457651990528

A procession of fire trucks escorted Toscano and waiting at the Medical Examiner’s office was a group of firefighters, including some of his fellow Watertown firefighters. They walked along side the hearse on Albany Street in Boston and escorted him into the building. https://twitter.com/bostonherald/status/843128591957331968

A fund has been created to benefit Toscano’s wife and five children.

Police/Fire

Fallen Watertown Firefighter, Husband and Father of 5 Mourned by Friends

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Friday morning, Watertown lost a great father, a talented cook and an excellent firefighter when a 21-year veteran of the Watertown Fire Department collapsed at a fire and died later at the hospital. Joseph Toscano, 54, of Randolph, joined he Watertown Fire Department in September 1996, and leaves behind his wife Maureen and five children between the ages of 12 and 19 – three boys and two girls. Deputy Fire Chief Bob Quinn knew Toscano well, having chosen him to be his aide and driver 12 years ago when Quinn became a fire deputy. “I got to select my aide when I became deputy,” Quinn said. “I chose him because he was a good firefighter, and a smart guy.”

Charity

Watertown Firefighters Raising Money to Support Breast Cancer Patients

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Through the month of October, the Watertown Fire Department will add a touch of pink to their blue uniforms for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you can get one of their T-shirts, too, and support patients undergoing treatment for the disease. Firefighter Bob Power is organizing the effort this year, and has seen what going through treatment for breast cancer can be like. “My wife was diagnosed two-and-a-half years ago,” Power said. “She has been cancer free for about two years.” The money raised by the WFD is given to those undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Police/Fire

Six Sent to Hospital With CO Poisoning at Watertown Condo Building

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Six residents of a Watertown condominium building went to hospital Wednesday night because of a high levels of carbon monoxide in the building. 

Residents of 10 Riverside St. we’re evacuated after high levels of CO were detected about 8 p.m.

The call came into the Watertown Fire Department as a report of a smell of gases. When the firefighters arrived they quickly realized what was happening, said Deputy Fire Chief Rob Iannetta. “We went in with our CO meters and gas meters and immediately got an elevated reading,” Iannetta said. The cause was a faulty oil burner, Iannetta said.

Police/Fire

Watertown Firefighters Douse 2 Alarm Fire at Company on Walnut Street

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A fire ignited around dawn at an empty lab on Walnut Street Monday morning, and Watertown Firefighters knocked down the two-alarm blaze in a potentially hazardous situation. Doble Engineering was closed when the Fire Department received a report of an alarm at about 6:30 a.m. Monday, said Deputy Fire Chief Rob Iannetta. “It came in as a regular smoke detector activation, like we have done 100 times before,” Iannetta said. “When we go there, the whole first floor was filled with smoke. Soon after the sprinkler system activated.”