The Saugus Review

A 75 year old man was found dead inside a pick-up truck that fell in Saugus River last Tuesday night.

The Saugus man, believed to be Thomas Shafarow of Marden Street, was found dead by the divers of Cambridge Team 15 to 20 feet underwater inside his pickup truck. The vehicle was found near the boat landing at Vitale Park.

Around 7:30 pm, Mr. Shafarow’s brother reported his missing brother at the police station, saying Thomas Shafarow’s boat was floating in Saugus River but his truck and trailer was nowhere in sight. When police and firefighters arrived at the scene and found nothing, they called on the Cambridge Dive Team to help investigate Saugus River where they eventually found Thomas Shafarow lifeless in his 1995 Dodge Pickup truck.

Police Lieutenant Campanello said there seem to be no indication of foul play involved yet at this stage of the investigation and it just seems that Shafarow was just trying to pull the boat out of the water when something went wrong.

On Tuesday around 12:10 pm, the fire department received a call from a resident of the third floor apartment unit at Avalon, Stevens Pond about smoke coming from one of the apartments.

The fire was later traced to a malfunctioning bathroom fan as the cause. When the fire fighters reached the scene they found a recessed bathroom fan in flames and after surveying the area, they finally pulled down a ceiling section and then extinguished the flames.

Luckily, someone was home at the time to report the incident and thanks to the fire fighters quick response, the fire was put out in an hour or so.

The fire was also contained and did not spread to the other apartments. Fire Chief James Blanchard says that the apartment was still salvageable but the affected apartment sustained about $30,000 worth of damage from the bathroom being completely trashed.