GUILFORD, Conn. — Sunday’s overnight storms packed a punch along the shoreline, bringing down trees, wires, and causing coastal flooding.
In Milford, firefighters responded to more than 14 calls for service in the early morning hours from 4 to 7 a.m.
“And those calls ranged from wires down to transformer fires to utility pole fires and we had somebody call thinking their house was on fire with a full assignment,” said Adam Hansen, Battalion Chief for Milford Fire.
That call, Hansen said, came from a homeowner on Hillside Ave, who’s basement was flooded to the point where water got into the main breaker panel, causing the wires to short and start smoking. Hansen said crews were able to contain the issue quickly before a fire started.
Another call requiring a lot of resources came from Alden Ct., where a massive tree fell in the middle of the roadway, taking all the power lines with it.
“A very large tree had snapped and crashed into a utility pole. When it crashed into it, all the primaries, all the secondaries came down in the roadway. And it actually caused the utility pole itself to catch fire,” Hansen said. “It was something that we needed to be very cautious with and kind of monitor the neighborhood, while we were waiting for UI (United Illuminating) to respond out and cut the power to the neighborhood.”
Firefighters were unable to put the fire out until utility crews took over. Hansen said it’s something many people question.
“There’s a lot of electricity going through those lines, and most people know that water and electricity do not mix very well,” Hansen said. “We would never apply water to live wires, live overhead wires, and risk getting electrocuted.”
Despite everything, Hansen said he and his crews were well-prepared for the storms.
“Just being a coastal city, coastal community, we’re prepared for these storms to come through,” Hansen said. “We’ve gotten pretty good at it. Our preparedness, our plans are pretty much set. And depending on whether it’s a snow storm, a wind storm, a rain storm, we break these plans out.”
Heading east, first responders in Guilford were also swamped with calls Sunday night. One of those calls involved a police officer had a close call while *responding to a call for a downed wire.
“And that’s when he reported that he heard a snapping noise and before he could even react to it, he had a tree across the front of his vehicle,” said Chief Christopher Massey with the Guilford Police Department.
The massive tree cracked the windshield and caused other severe damages to the cruiser, but somehow left the officer without a scratch when he walked away from the scene. Massey said that officer is doing just fine.
“Police officers, firefighters, public works, utility workers, we need to be out in the storm, we need to be out there trying to make the roads safe,” Massey said.
Chief Massey also mentioned there was an influx of calls from people reporting others for removing cones, tape, and barriers in the roadway. Massey said those barriers are placed there by first responders for a reason. He reminds the public to follow the rules of the road to keep themselves and others safe, and take an alternate route when they come across a road closure.
“One of our main concerns with that is that certainly, for that person, they’re driving into an area that we’ve deemed to be hazardous. And they’re also taking away that warning for other motorists,” Massey said.
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