Crime & Safety

Kings Park Fire Department Responds to Record Number of Calls After Sandy

Department answers 134 calls in week following Sandy, as many calls as they would normally see in a month.

 

During the first 24-hours of Hurricane Sandy, the men and women of the Kings Park Fire Department responded to 70 emergency calls. In the following week, the department responded to a record number of 134 calls, rivaling what they normally see in a month’s time.

 To handle the huge uptick in emergency calls, some members opted to stay at the firehouse, some for the entire week and others doing shifts.

Find out what's happening in Kings Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“One of the things we did during Sandy, we had stand by, where guys would come and stay at the house,” said Mark O’Brien, chief of the department. “Then we called and told them that they could bring their families. Some did a few hours and came back and some stayed the entire time.”

O’Brien said the department responded to fallen trees on homes, fires and downed wires, which the department would check out and then secure the area. O’Brien said that Sandy differed from last year’s storm Irene in that Sandy lasted longer and calls continued to come in the days after the storm as power was restored.

Find out what's happening in Kings Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“During Irene, we did like 60 calls during the storm. This was something that was ongoing,” said O’Brien. “The calls kept coming in. When people had phone service it picked up again. At one point when service was down people were driving to the fire house to get help.”

In the aftermath of the storm, the department said the community rallied together, sharing power and generators, donating clothing and supplies and donating a record number of blood at an emergency blood drive held by the department.

The department offered a few tips on how to stay safe in the event of an emergency:

  • Have your house number clearly visible from the street.
  • Be informed of what to do before, during and after an emergency
  • Make a plan with your family
  • Build a basic home disaster supply kit, suitable for three days.
  • Never run emergency generators inside your home or garage
  • Never store gasoline inside your home and only use approved containers
  • When your power is restored after an extended period of time remember to change your battery backups on your home smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.