Blackout of 2003

[Guest DFFD227]

What did your Fire Department/EMS agency do to prepare themselves for this? Did you have any back up generators? Any major problems that occurred during this night? VERY BUSY? LOL Any stories to share?

[chris498 31]

We were kind of busy for us at least, 4 alarms....2 CFA's, 1 PIAA, and 1 Possible Structure Fire, which turned out to be at the funeral home because a power surge blew out their phone systems. We had to set up operations at several points along Rt. 35 because of traffic lights out at major intersections and on and off ramps for 684 and the SMP. It was a long night. We had a pool going to see when the power came back on..... kind of fun..... it beat Floyd back in '99 when the whole downtown area was under 8 ft. of water.....

[57truck 1]

during the storm we ran a couple AFA's, 2 outside odor's of something burning, and 1 dual-response with katonah for 57truck to the funeral home. We have 1 portable generator and both 57truck and Rescue10 have fixed generators incase we needed to run any power from them. During the blackout each truck had an assigned crew and that crew stayed the same the whole night. KBHVAC also had 1 rig stationed at our quarters with a crew the whole night. Also, during the beginning of the blackout we took all of our gas cans and had them filled, incase we needed fuel. Furthermore, with two senior complexes in our district we sent trucks to each location to check on the welfare of all the people living their and gave them some ice cold water to drink. Thank God for AC in the firehouse, because it was nice and cool in our lounge, when i slept their that night.

[Guest DG795]

OEM requested that YHFD respond to the westchester medical center with our large PPV electric fan (it really is large, about 4 feet high) we set this up in an intensive care unit to assist with ventilation. all apparatus was staffed, and our call volume was not abnormal, we only ran about 3 jobs throughout the blackout.

[CG206 29]

Mohegan responded to numerous commercial and residential fire alarms, a few car accidents, and a few possible structure fires which were mostly oil burner malfunctions. I do not have an exact number of calls from the blackout. Mohegan also directed traffic at main intersections on both Rt 6 and Rt 202 in Cortlandt during the daylight hours that Thursday and Friday.

[TRUCK6018 50]

Mohegan also directed traffic at main intersections on both Rt 6 and Rt 202 in Cortlandt during the daylight hours that Thursday and Friday.

Isn't that what the cops are for? They always claim that they're in charge of the road.

[CG206 29]

I agree, but in this case, the State Police requested us.....so we assisted them with the traffic control.

[chris498 31]

Some times it is very difficult to have cops all over the place when there is sooo much going on, espcially when you consider how many stop lights and intersections there are in many of Westchesters towns...... additionally, the cops were busy patroling comercial areas that night, running EMS calls, etc. I think that in a situation as abnormal as the one we all faced on the night the lights went out, the Fire Service can expect topick up some slack to help resources that are already stretched thin. In the event that maybe a small section of a fire district is without power, I would expect to see the cops directing traffic instead of the FD, but like I said, the power was out everywhere.....

[TRUCK6018 50]

PD requested us also, as they do every time a tree falls down or a traffic light is out.

I do understand these were extreme circumstances but, it's not fair either when we're out there for hours on end being taken advantage of and not getting paid for it.

[RadnorCo15 0]

We ran 55 fire responses & 5 EMS responses during the storm & blackout including a structure fire

http://www.nbc10.com/news/2500370/detail.html (I'm manning the 2-1/2 behind the chief ) At many points each of our 5 apparatus were all operating at separate calls. In terms of preparation, stocking extra flares, scene tape, etc. for blocking off hazardous areas. The police do not have us control traffic. They either direct traffic themselves or put up temporary stop signs to control intersections. Town Public Works Departments can be utilized for barricades, but their resources are limited.

[HFD23 37]

Here in Hartsdale we Ran 31 alarms, with varriations between a car crashed through CVS on central ave... several EMS calls, 2 or 3 class related to candels in the home, numerious comercial and residential fire alarms, outside smoke investigations 2 car accidents and several stuck occupied elevators.. in addition to running these alarms we went to every high rise building containing elevators and located every one to make sure they were empty... we had back up generators for the computers, TV.. and A/C...

Staffing was increased with the day and nite crews held... 3 FF's and a Capt on Eng 170 ( the Day crew )

Eng 171 was placed in service with 3 FF's and a CApt.. (the nite crew)

Eng 169 had 2 FF's and a deputy chief...

Car 2172 had a deputy chief

Car 2174 Had a FF and a DEputy Chief

and TL -15 Had 1 FF and ONe LT.. ( Being My Self)

1 interesting alarm was a auto matic fire alarm on topland road with TL-15 and Car 2172 assigned due to Engs 169,170, and 171 all assigned other calls... 2172 requested a mutual aid eng and was informened that Fairview, Greenville, Elmsford and Scarsdale were all occupied... interest pulling up to a structure with no fire supression other then a water can and a Dry chem extinguisher...

I even tried to call CM36 via nextel to attempt to get a Ardsley eng... but most nextels were down...

[Guest EMSwhitecloud]

it's not fair either when we're out there for hours on end being taken advantage of and not getting paid for it.

thats very true, but thats why we're volunteers, some of us volunteered to do it not expecting to get paid. It's the price we pay for the doing the job.

[CG206 29]

Just look at my quote at the bottom of my submission....

[TRUCK6018 50]

i It's the price we pay for the doing the job.

I agree wholeheartedly. The key part I was trying to bring out is that we're often taken advantage of.

Example: An emergency ambulance service gets called repeatedly to nursing homes and doctors offices for what often becomes a direct admit. Why? Because the contracted ambulance for the facility is "unavailible".

Or we get called to 123 Main St, USA for a "medical emergency" and you arrive on the scene and start your primary assesment to find a** (Apparent Samsonite Symptoms). The patient feels bad enough to call an ambulance but had no problem packing their bags for the trip. Then the patient states that he/she has been feeling like this for a week now (meanwhile it's 3 in the morning). Then when you get them to the hospital, not the closest hospital mind you which is only 5 minutes away. But the hospital 30 minutes away because this is where their doctor is, they complain you can't wait and take them home.

Now I admit that this story is exagerated but I think all of us have encountered some of this at one point or another. I think we can all agree that more times we want to admit a taxi sign on the side of the bus would be more apropriate than the star of life.

[mikerabbit 2]

One thing tha I found out is that 60 control keeps a list of people on home O2 or other life support that requires electricity. They (60) would call local departments and have them check on the welfare of the people who are registered with them. The big problem is that the list was very out of date. It kind of ruins somebodies day when you show up to check on "John Smith" and the family says he passed away over a year ago.

Mike