Fields Corner resident Wajih Yazbek, second from right holding the fire extinguisher that “saved the day” during the Dorchester Day Parade around 3:20 p.m. He is pictured with his mom, another family member, and Dorchester’s Rosalind Wornum, second from left, who was marching in the parade as it passed by the area. Seth Daniel photos
This year’s edition of the Dorchester Day Parade was no dumpster fire, but there was one along the route.
As the marchers passed through Fields Corner around 3:15 p.m., a fire that broke out in a dumpster located behind 1430 Dorchester Ave. quickly gathered energy as flames towered up from the trash heap, threatening an adjacent building on Charles Street.
That’s when Wajih Yazbek, who was watching the parade go by from a third-floor balcony on the avenue, swung into action, retrieving a large fire extinguisher from an apartment and hauling it to the alleyway as Boston Fire Department trucks from Engine 21 (Meetinghouse Hill) were still on their way.
There, he handed the extinguisher to an unidentified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) on parade duty who used the hand-held tank to put a damper on the fire, buying precious time until the Engine 21 jakes brought in bigger hoses to finish the job. A roar of applause from those watching the parade erupted after the extinguisher was deployed.
Yazbek, who won the thanks of scores of onlookers, was with his family when they noticed the smoky problem.
“I had to do something,” he said of his rush to the flames as he and the EMT exchanged a quick high-five to celebrate their team effort.
Absent their collective action, the fire could easily have spread since several discarded mattresses had been piled up next to the dumpster.
City Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune, who was parading by at the time of the fire, shook Yazbek’s hand and thanked him for “saving the day.” He, in turn, gave two thumbs up and went back to enjoying Dorchester Day.
