Fire company left waiting for utility crew for hours

Fire company left waiting for utility crew for hours

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Members of Harris Hill Fire Company spent much of Saturday night waiting for New York State Electric and Gas to arrive at the scene of downed power lines, which had caused a fire that destroyed the shed and its contents at a David Road home.

According to Harris Hill Chief Nick Radlich, an emergency call reporting that power lines had been knocked down due to the weather was received at about 6:45 p.m.

“It caused a shed to go up in flames, which had gasoline and an [all-terrain vehicle] in it, which caused pine trees surrounding the house to go up,” Radlich said. “We were there to protect the home to exposure due to the heat coming off the pine trees and the shed.”

Radlich said the shed and its contents were a total loss, but firefighters were able to protect the home from being damaged. No nearby homes were damaged.

What really was upsetting Radlich, however, was that the fire company had to remain onsite for four hours for NYSEG to send a team to address the live power lines that were a threat to the subdivision.

“The reason they gave us was they were helping out crews in Rochester,” he said.

Because the fire company was waiting by the power lines all evening, it had to ask Main-Transit Fire Department to assist by taking Harris Hill’s calls. Luckily, no other emergency calls were received.

Residents of David Road were told to stay inside while the neighborhood waited for the utility company to send a crew.


“We were unable to leave the scene because it was a hazard,” Radlich said.

The fire chief questioned why NYSEG didn’t contact another utility company to send a crew to address the issue.

“We called for another power company after the shed caught fire because of NYSEG’s lack of response,” he said. “Why are they depleting all of their resources from Buffalo?

“We understand that they have a job to do, but when there is an emergency, so do we.”

The Bee reached out to NYSEG for comment, but there was no response as of press time.

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http://www.clarencebee.com/news/2014...w_for_hou.html

Each call the power people receive is judged by threat - then they have to find one of their available crews to drive to the scene. Its how business is run today for them and many utility providers - their crews are sort of roaming service trucks. When one is available - they shift it to your area. If the service to the garage shorted and terminated - its no threat if not molested.

Contrary to what's shown in movies - the cable/wire doesn't fly around like a angry snake seeking out its next victim.

If the master service box didn't trip and shut it down - its still no threat unless molested or it touch's something that would carry the current to other homes. metal fences, pipes and so on.

You have to asses the actual threat - not just the response time. If the fire fighters on scene and or police didn't convey their observations correctly to the power company - this is where the problem starts and can multiply.

More facts are needed.

Good thing they weren't waiting for the cable company.

A part of a letter from the family whose shed and trees were burning due to the downed wires.


Dedication shown by HH firefighters

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We would like to publicly thank the members of the Harris Hill Fire Department for their quick response to the fire that occurred at our house on David Road on Aug. 2. Every member of the response crew conducted themselves in a professional and compassionate manner during the course of events that occurred that evening. From the very beginning, the team made sure things were secure and that no one entered the area of danger. Once the utility company cut the power to the downed lines, the fire was quickly extinguished.

When we first called 911 because of the downed high-voltage power lines, we never thought the Fire Department would be at our house for five hours. The conditions created by the broken high-voltage power line were severe and potentially life-threatening due to the constant surging of electrical power. The crew remained on point until the situation was resolved. We are thankful no one was injured as a result of the downed power lines or because of the fire.

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It still seems to me that 5 hours is a long time for volunteers to have to wait it out.

Fortunately they had trained members who responded and controlled the situation - with downed wires that is all you can do.

Job well done !

As for the utility company - this is standard operations for them. Even in the City of Buffalo - fire fighters are tied up for hours on end - waiting for crews to arrive.

Is it scary - yes - could it be handled faster, that's a question only the utility company can answer.

Like I stated before - from first hand experience - its not like in the movies. The wires don't seek out victims - the electricity seeks to ground - its not searching for anything -

Stay away - don't touch the wires or near by objects like fences, buildings with metal/aluminum siding or even wet ground. Leave it to the trained responders. Sheds can be rebuilt ! :)

Yes, but in the city, the firefighters are getting paid, while these volunteers may have missed some work at their regular job due to NYSEG's slow-go.