Fire Department Responded to 39 Calls During Irene, Report Says

The 39 storm-related calls that the responded to during Tropical Storm Irene made up 6.5 percent of the department’s average annual fire calls and 64 percent of the typical amount of monthly calls, according to a recent fire department report.

That was over the span of about 44 hours between 10:45 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 to 6:50 p.m. to the Monday after the storm.

The department responded to “everything from flooded basements to downed/burning power lines,” according to a press release from the fire department.

“I could not be more proud of our department’s response to the increased volume and variety of calls generated as a result of Irene,” Avon Fire Chief Michael Trick said in the press release. “It’s such an honor to be at the helm of such a dedicated group of volunteers whose commitment to our Town of Avon and exceptional skill level facilitated our smooth and efficient handling dozens of difficult and challenging situations. What’s more, had the storm been worse, I am confident our community would have been just as well served by our volunteers.”

Assistant Fire Chief Bruce Appell also served as the fire department liaison in the town of Avon Emergency Operations Center for 18 hours following the storm. Newly appointed Assistant Chief Chris Kunzelmann was the department’s operations officer during Irene, “handling allocation of resources and response for each individual call,” while Fire Police Lieutenant and vice president of the fire department’s Board of Directors Ken Sedlak was stationed at the headquarters emergency operations center at 1 Darling Drive during the storm to help with operations. All four of the fire stations were staffed during Irene. Trick oversaw all of the operations activity as incident commander.

“Times like these are the reason our members have volunteered to serve our town,” Kunzelmann said in the press release.

The fire department offers the following reminders for any severe storms in the future.

• Stay away from downed power lines and assume they are live. Call 9-1-1 to report them.
• Notify Connecticut Light & Power if you lose power. Turn off stoves, ovens and heating equipment so that there will be no danger if your electricity returns.
• Use flashlights instead of candles during a power outage.
• Generators should be set up outside a home, rather than inside the home, basement or garage, and keep them away from windows and vents to keep carbon monoxide from entering the home. Only use a portable generator if it is installed by a licensed electrician "with the proper safeguards." Otherwise, all items you need to power should be plugged directly into the generator.
• Avoid all areas blocked off by caution tape or barricades because they are not safe.
• Treat traffic lights as stop signs if they are not functioning and abide by all right of way driving regulations.