It was a dark and stormy night - and day - and night

[ullrichk]

Having just spent a mostly sleepless night after quite a round of storms, I was wondering what different departments do about responding to calls during severe weather. We currently leave responses up to the CO's discretion and notify dispatch of any delay.

We got called out for a lightning strike on a house during the middle of a tornado warning. Fortunately the damage was minimal (both fire and tornado), but one engine had to break out the chain saws to get back to the station.

On a related note - does anyone have a storm shelter at their station?

[Gx7E10]

We usually leave it to the chief in charge, and no we dont have a storm shelter, In our area the weather doesnt get that bad.

[Airborne]

That is a good question. Being that I'm new I have no idea, but I do know that for severe snow, we have a duty crew rooster and if your crew is up, you spend the night at the station. Not sure how often this has been utilized, but the winters have been pretty mild the past few years.

[Kvfcjr]

We had an incredible wind storm sept. 11 of 2002. 12 call with in 5 hours!
after the first call, people just hung aournd, wainting for the next.

[EoneTiller]

hey matt that sounds all to familiar, one summer day we had a nasty storm and we got 8 calls that day and at one point ppl would just get back and "21 fire alert".that night a a huge 75' tree fell on this house and totalled it, it was bad. also that day i saw my first fire haha it was a wire down and caught some trees grass on fire.when we got back to the firehouse the chief was like "attention everyone today garrett has seen his first fire" i felt honored after he said that.when it snows here really bad ppl choose to sleep overnight.and no we dont have a storm shelter.

[Kvfcjr]

we didnt have any fire thta day, lol, all just wires down, and 1 smoke investigation.
I was excited because i got to tlak on the radio alot that day.

[AsstChief11]

We have a group of firefighters that are trained storm spotters so we go out in severe weather. We have not had anything real bad to speak of. We just had a meeting after all of the tornado's in Kansas and I am going to start calling tomorrow on prices for storm shelters for the station. It looks like it is going to be a very busy tornado season. Everyone stay safe out there!

[hwoods]

We are in a substantial brick/concrete/steel building, so a severe storm is not too much of a concern, EXCEPT there are areas where there is a lot of glass. Almost all severe weather moves northwest to southeast in our area, so avoiding the windows on the west side of the building is the first thing to remember. Maryland has tornados, fortunately not many, but last year we had a F4 south of us, and a couple of F1s much nearer. Our county has a Technical Rescue Team, in addition to the 14 Heavy Rescue Squads, and the Team has a well equipped Collapse Unit which has been used in severe weather response. An excellent mutual aid system insures that everyone gets what they need. Stay Safe....