By Caroline Enos
Gloucester Daily Times
BEVERLY, Mass. — An EMT with Gloucester-based Beauport Ambulance was honored last week for taking action when he noticed a house fire in North Beverly.
Beverly resident Nick Parianos was driving through a North Beverly neighborhood at 7:15 p.m. May 23 when he spotted smoke coming from a home at the corner of Dodge Street and Puritan Road and saw signs of a chimney fire.
Parianos rushed toward the home and alerted the residents inside of the fire, helping them get out as smoke filled the building, according to a resolution read by the Beverly City Council at its meeting last Monday night.
“Thanks to Mr. Parianos’ swift response and early warning, emergency personnel were able to arrive promptly, extinguish the fires, access the roof to remove the chimney cap, and take essential measures to prevent the fire from spreading into the interior of the home,” the resolution said.
Besides being an EMT with Beauport Ambulance Service, Parianos is a wellness teacher at Masconomet Regional High School, where he plays a vital role in the school’s Emergency Medical Services program.
He also served in the Marine Corps from 2013 to 2017 as an armorer in the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, attaining the rank of sergeant. He was appointed to the Beverly Veterans Council in 2023.
In a letter to the Beauport Ambulance Service that was shared on the company’s Facebook page, Beverly Fire Chief Peter O’Connor said the residents hadn’t been aware of the fire until Parianos jumped into action, helping them get out of the house and calling the Fire Department.
Parianos filled O’Connor in on what was happening when the chief arrived at the scene, and crews were able to contain the flames to the chimney and ventilate the smoke in the home, O’Connor said.
Had Parianos not seen the fire and rushed to help, “it was a matter of time before the chimney walls were breached and the fire entered the structure,” O’Connor said.
“Nick is known to me to be a great guy with tremendous character,” he said. “I wasn’t at all shocked to see him there and to find out what he did. He is a true professional. His early recognition of a problem prevented significant damage to the home and possibly harm to the occupants.”
Parianos said he appreciates the recognition, but “anybody with common sense would have done the same thing.
“I was kind of confident that it was just a chimney fire, that it hadn’t actually entered into the structure, but (firefighters) go into the actual structure fires every single day so endless praise to them,” Parianos said before the council.
“It reiterates the concept that I always tell my students, which is if you see something, say something.”
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