KILLINGLY, CT—For years, South Killingly Fire Department Chief Seth DeAngelis has been sounding the alarm on the deterioration of a road leading to a state park where his crews are frequently called to respond to a range of emergency calls.
The road, which extends off Ross Road to Old Furnace State Park in Danielson, is carved by deep ruts and asphalt so old it's hard to differentiate it from gravel.
On Monday, DeAngelis and a volunteer firefighter drove a Zodiac rescue boat down the tree-hemmed road to a boat launch area to show how difficult getting to the Ross Pond area — the site of two near-drownings in recent years — can be.
The boat, hitched to a small rescue vehicle, juked and bounced around craters while barely moving faster than a slow walking pace.
"Now imagine trying to get down here with a 60,000-pound tanker, like we did last week for a brush fire, or with the heavy technical rescue truck we use of cliff rescues," DeAngelis said. "And if you're drowning it can mean a couple minutes longer for us to get to you because of this road's condition."
DeAngelis said the half-mile stretch washed out a decade ago, leaving significant dips and rises that can easily bottom-out a rescue boat or force a heavy truck to the softer edges of the road.
The park is overseen by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, though it's local emergency services, like the South Killingly department, who respond to medical and other emergency calls in the area.
"I started complaining about the road conditions to the state eight years ago and they did come out at one point and drop some millings, but that only helped for a couple of years," DeAngelis said. "We're not looking for a new road, but maybe for someone to come out and lay some gravel down in the worst areas or do some patching."
Town Manager Mary Calorio said though the town cannot make fixes to state property, like the park road, she plans to reach out to a DEEP liaison to see if any help if available.
"One problem is that DEEP has said the ongoing COVID-19 situation means they're not going out for those kinds of jobs right now," she said.
DEEP officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
State Rep. Anne Dauphinais, R-Killingly, who DeAngelis reached out to on the issue previously, said she's tried to contact DEEP twice in the last two years regarding the road issue, most recently right before the coronavirus crisis hit.
"I did not get a response back either time and it's frustrating," she said. "I've been down that road in my own car and can't imagine driving it with a piece of heavy equipment. Short of actually going down and fixing it myself I'm not sure what will get done, but I will try and contact them again this week."
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