A photo posted on social media shows wind damage Sunday to power lines in WestVue Dog Park causing a closure Monday to allow crews to restore power. Local firefighters responded to 10 weather related events from Sunday's storm, including a power outage that left one individual trapped in an elevator.--HANDOUT PHOTO
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat Fire Services says it responded to 15 calls Sunday, with 10 directly related to blowing winds of up to 100 km/h mixed with snow that resulted in falling debris and damage to city power lines and trees.
Among the 10 weather related calls firefighters responded to four electrical hazards caused by trees falling onto power lines, as well as five power outages across the city, with one trapping an individual inside an elevator.
Fire crews also responded to a weather-related motor vehicle collision along the Trans-Canada Highway after a truck and a trailer rolled due to the high winds.
“I just want to say thanks to the several departments that we worked with, including municipal works electric and certainly working with parks (Sunday), to work our way through some of those emergencies and to clear up some of those roadways,” said fire chief Chad Eakins.
The city closed WestVue Dog Park to the public Monday following extensive damage caused to the power line, and reopened it Tuesday afternoon after crews were able to complete repairs.
Additionally, the city reported numerous damaged trees and fallen debris like roof shingles on residences.
“We certainly saw lots of situations where there was some debris going across the road, we saw lots of people had shingles going off their houses, we found damage to trees and other infrastructure in the community,” said director of parks and recreation James Will.
Will spoke about the city’s response following damaging high-wind events during a public services meeting Monday.
“We do have staff that are deployed to go and deal with more emergency situations, so maybe not the same type of emergency as fire services, but when we have a roadway that’s being blocked or a potential branch that’s going to fall and potentially harm someone if they’re in the area. But typically our cleanup activities occur after the high-wind event has concluded.”
Will says the No. 1 reason to wait out high winds is the safety of the staff and deployment of equipment.
“Especially bucket trucks and things that we wouldn’t want to be putting up in 100 km/h wind,” he said.
Following high-wind events the city also performs maintenance on damaged trees located on public property, however Will reminds the public that damaged trees on private property remain the responsibility of the homeowners, unless the damage creates a public safety issue.
“We have sometimes gone and barricaded off an area if a tree is going to be damaging another property, we have on rare circumstances had to intervene on a situation if it causes a public safety issue.”
Staff say due to the number of high-winds events in the region over the past two years, crews are experiencing fewer fallen branches because “they have been addressed through previous wind events,” added Will.
