That's not smoke you're smelling

March 3 – Early in the morning, at a quarter to 5 a.m., the entire Belmont Fire Department – Engine 1 and 2, Ladder 1, Rescue 1 and command cars – rushed to a house on Brighton Street for a reported strong odor of smoke inside the building. Engine 2 was the first to arrive on scene and the crew soon determined that what they were smelling was not from a fire. The firefighters descended into the basement and very quickly concluded that the odor was not from a blaze but a very smelly skunk. Firefighters will do a lot for residents – fight fires, rescue people, rush people to the hospital and unlock cars – but a skunk is an issue to be resolved by the homeowner.

Another leaks

March 4 – Ten minutes after 3 p.m., fire crews were sent to the corner of Alma Avenue and Belmont Street for a reported gas leak. And it was a leak; National Grid was called to fix the problem. 

Next door incident

March 5 – Just before a quarter to 10 a.m., Engine 1 took the short trip to the construction site next to the Fire Department Headquarters for a slight gassy odor coming from the excavation site. The area was metered with the gas detector and nothing was found. 

Oil heat mishegas

March 5 – At a quarter to 4 p.m., Engine 1 and 2 and Ladder 1 took off for a multifamily on Maple Terrace for a report of smoke coming from the roof. On arrival, there was no smoke showing. The Engine 1 crew investigated inside the house and found a slight haze in the basement. It was discovered that an oil-fired heating system for the third floor was malfunctioning. The system was shut down and red tagged. Firefighters also discovered a missing smoke detector at the base of basement stairs.

Partial patch 

March 9 – A quarter to 4 p.m., Engine 1 was sent once again to Alma Street for a gas leak (see the March 4 incident). On arrival, the Engine 1 crew noticed a recent asphalt patch on the road along with test holes from the gas company. And firefighters did smell a slight odor of natural gas but nothing registered on the detection devices. National Grid was called to respond ... again.