The fast-moving and violent storm that rolled through the area last night wreaked havoc in the area. Company 1 received 26 calls for service in approximately one hour. Call types ranged from trees falling on houses to trees down blocking the road, and utility wires (power, cable, and telephone) down. In addition, calls for medical emergencies, vehicle collisions, and alarms kept our crews busy. Neighboring departments were also hit hard by the storm, taxing each department’s response capabilities.

Most calls came directly through the Calvert 911 Center, but several were direct calls to the firehouse. Company 1 obtained a radio channel from Calvert 911 to handle the call volume in the area and provide some relief for the beleaguered dispatch center. Calls were prioritized and units were sent from one call to the next via the channel Calvert 911 designated until all calls for service were addressed. It took approximately 90 minutes to handle all the calls, and another hour-and-a-half for the phones to stop ringing at Dispatch so incident numbers could be assigned to all the calls proper documentation. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported in any of the tree on house incidents.

Twenty-five members reported to the station for the flurry of calls, staffing seven pieces of apparatus, the relief dispatch center, and providing support to the crews when they returned from calls. As always, our partner Calvert Career ALS unit was staffed and ran its share of calls.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all well who suffered damage from the storm, and remind everyone that if you lose power:
refrain from using candles and other open flames indoors, and ensure all generators are operated away from living spaces

Photo Credit: Lt. J. Sullivan, NBVFD