| During the late evening hours of Sunday October 28 and easing up Tuesday October 30, Hurricane Sandy rocked the East Coast destroying New York & New Jersey with sustained winds of 75-80 mph with gusts over 100 mph. Fire & Rescue personnel throughout Calvert County prepared for the worst but were fortunately evaded unlike Hurricane Irene that struck Calvert County in August 2011, leaving the Huntingtown Volunteers with 116 emergency responses in 24 hours.
During Hurricane Sandy, the Volunteers of Huntingtown responded on approximately 18 emergency calls. Due to 40-50 Volunteers at the station for 72 hours straight, there were too many members and not enough apparatus due to Engine 61 being out for repairs in Baltimore. Fortunately, our fellow brothers at Solomons VRSFD lent us Engine 34 from Sunday-Wednesday. The two most significant calls occurred on Monday October 29 when two Residential Haz-Mat Boxes were dispatched in Huntingtown for ruptured propane tanks due to the storm. The first call occurred when a 50 gallon tank broke free from the house when the ground eroded from beneath it. It rolled down a hill striking a tree and breaking off the brass connection. The Huntingtown Volunteers had to plug the connection to eliminate the leak. The second call occurred that night when a large tree limb fell breaking the brass connection off. Once again, Huntingtown personnel had to plug the connection, ceasing the leak.
Many thanks to the dedicated members for staffing the station and apparatus for 72 hours straight. |
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