MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In Morgantown, law enforcement, firefighters, and public works crews swiftly responded to the flurry of calls during severe weather Saturday.
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Fire Chief Gary Freshour said his department and the police are the first agencies to get a sense of how serious an event is based on the volume and type of calls. The firefighters are referred to as the equivalent of a “Swiss Army Knife” for the residents of the city.
“In the severe weather situations, I would say we are more like the first line of defense,” Freshour said. “So, we go out, and if we can handle the situation, and most of the time we can and we do.”
In total, fire crews received 32 calls in the first hours of the storm. There were 24 calls about trees down throughout the city and numerous other calls about wires down, traffic lights out, and debris.
Firefighters now use battery-operated chainsaws that enable crews to respond to tree situations quicker and more efficiently. Freshour said the battery-operated saws have plenty of power, don’t stall, and are reliable.
“More specifically, they had 20 calls in a four-hour period,” Freshour said. “They were at it all night long, they didn’t get any rest.”
Across the county, MECCA 911 received a total of 254 calls to relay to area first responders during the storm, causing some calls to be “stacked.”
Freshour said the firefighters move from incident to incident as quickly as possible while maintaining contact with the 911 center to make sure calls don’t get lost in the system.
“When people are calling in, they hold on to them, and once you let the 911 center know you’ve handled the situation, they will notify you that they have more calls here, here, and here, and we respond.”
When the weather began to turn bad late Saturday, the firefighters began to develop an idea of what might come next. It is their job to secure the scene and understand the difference between a cable TV line, telephone, or electric lines draped across the area to ensure the safety of the public.
“Our guys are really educated in those areas, and they know exactly which ones they are,” Freshour said. “They know if they can tape them off or cordon off the area, so experience is important, and we have a lot of experienced people.”