Last night there was a large emergency response at Deer Island. The incident was caused by a fire alarm that resulted from an HVAC mechanical failure within one of the office buildings. There was no fire or danger to the public at any time. The level of emergency response was automatically triggered due to standing incident response protocols.
Winthrop and Boston Fire Departments, including hazmat units, began responding to the Island around 9pm in response to the fire alarm. While there was no fire, steam from the plants chillers, which is produced during normal daily operations was visible. The situation was cleared and all units departed by approximately 10:30pm.
We apologize for the delay in communicating this information to the community and causing unnecessary concern. We have protocols in place to ensure that communications are made in a timely manner. Unfortunately this did not happen last night. We have addressed the lapse of communication internally, to ensure more timely public communication in the future.
We thank Boston and Winthrop Fire Departments for their speedy response to this incident. We appreciate their service and dedication to protecting our Winthrop neighbors, MWRA staff and facilities.
