Surprise storm Friday results in numerous trees, wires down throughout Lewis County and beyond
LOWVILLE- A surprise wind storm caused a run of chaos late Friday afternoon and evening for several North Country area fire departments, especially in Lewis County.
For Lowville Fire Department, Chief Joe Austin says his crews took on 9 calls in a span of 7-hours in the town of Watson, alone.
This is in addition to several other downed trees and wires that were reported throughout the rest of the county and beyond.
Chief Austin says it was a tricky time, but thanks to all of the never unfailing dedication and teamwork displayed by emergency responders, things came together and a crew remained available at Lowville Fire Hall during the storm, just in case a structure fire call came in.
Statements from Chief Austin:
"There are a couple of shout-outs I'd like to give concerning yesterday's (Friday's) calls:
1) To the members of the Lowville Fire Dept, thank you for you commitment to the safety of all in our district, you all rise to whatever is thrown at you and work together to accomplish what needs to be done.
2) To the Lewis County Dispatchers, your job must be extremely hard on days like this when your being flocked with calls and have to prioritize where able. Through the evening, dispatch had multiple serious calls above and beyond the wires and tree calls for other departments, several motor vehicle accidents, ambulance calls, and a possible structure fire, they too rose to the occasion and handle themselves with absolute valor. They should be commended for a job well done so thank you for answering the call, literally and figuratively.
3) To the Town of Watson DPW crews, thank you for coming out and providing assistance where able with tree removals and road closures.
4) To the National Grid crews, thank you for doing your best. We all know that you all do your best and that you also must prioritize incidents based on the information you receive. We all appreciate you all for being willing to go out there in bad weather conditions and get things done.
5)To the Glenfield fire members who were able to cut some trees out of the way on Pine Grove Road to save us a response, thank you for being willing and able to do this in between your calls that you were also running.
Once again days like yesterday just illustrate what working in emergency services in a small rural area is all about. People coming together from multiple agencies and organization to work to safely and efficiently mitigate whatever problems lie before us. All agencies and organizations did exactly this yesterday showing up and going above and beyond to ensure the safety of our community."
Lowville Fire Department image.
