A Watertown firefighter died Friday after collapsing at the scene of a two-alarm fire. 54-year-old Joseph Toscano had been with the Watertown Fire Department for more than 20 years. He was married with five children, aged 12 to 19. FIREENGINEERING
Cheesetoasters on YouTube Writes:
Footage of house fire on Merrifield Avenue, Watertown, MA, morning of 17 March 2017. I’d just arrived home at my house on Arlington street and was puzzled by the smell of something burning until I noticed black smoke drifting over the back of my garage. I ran around the corner onto Merrifield Ave and saw smoke billowing out of the attic of a house at the end of the street. But no people were around. As I turned to run back to my house to get my phone to call 911, I saw a neighbor out of the corner of my eye running across to the house and the front door of the house opening. I heard someone yell, “Call 911!” I kept running and as I reached my house I heard the fire trucks. When I got back to the scene with my phone, flames were raging out of the attic windows. The first fire truck pulled up less than a minute later and I saw a woman and elderly man coming out of the house and my neighbor helping them. The police and EMTs arrived shortly after. I heard one of the firefighters call for a 2nd alarm and more fire trucks arrived quickly after.
About 20-30+ minutes later the firemen brought out a man on a stretcher. I watched in agony as they wheeled him down the street, with one firefighter performing clearly desperate and rapid chest compressions all the way. I later learned this was the firefighter who was lost. Based on what I saw of the man on the stretcher and the pictures I’ve later seen of him, I believe I captured some of his last moments alive in the first 30 seconds of this video. I believe he is the firefighter in the red shirt with the white hair making preparations at the rear of the L2 fire truck. Thank you for your sacrifice, sir, and to all of the incredible firefighters and police and EMT personnel I witnessed today. I am in awe of what you do for all of us.
Firefighter Spot 