Al agreed with the others that the recent storms were not catastrophic but still required work. “Although we were completely on call in preparation for Sandy, there were maybe three storm-related calls. It didn’t hit hard up this way at all,” he said. “During Hurricane Irene, we were pretty busy: 45 calls in a 12-hour period—and we average 200 calls a year. I had six pump-out teams working solid for the 12 hours. Damage in the town was more over towards the Rock City area and some in the area of Turkey Hill Road, washed-out roads, mainly. Propane tanks were torn off the old sawmill on Sawmill Road, but there was not a whole lot we could do. They hit a bridge, and they were in the water. The valves were open, and propane was spewing into the air. We were just thankful that the power was out. It could have been very dangerous.”
Al offered his precautions to the public: “When a state of emergency is declared, that means you’re not allowed to be on the road. If you can’t see the road ahead of you, turn around, don’t drive through the water. At home, it’s a good idea to have a couple of days of drinking water for each person, non-perishable food items for a couple of days. If you have a backup generator, make sure it is installed properly by a licensed electrician, and portable generators have to be located far enough away from the house. Carbon monoxide alarms go off because somebody is running the generator too close to the house.”
TIVOLI
Marc Hildenbrand is Chief of the Tivoli Fire Department, which is owned by the village and covers sections of Route 9 up to the Clermont border and Route 9G, Lasher Road up to the Clermont border, the north half of the Bard College campus, then back north on Route 9. Part of the coverage area is in the Town of Red Hook, and the Tivoli and Red Hook fire departments back each other up. “We came up with a pretty good system where, if any call is on line, then both departments get called,” Marc said. “We work close with Red Hook on drills and calls and it’s good for both of us.”
Tivoli has two engine pumpers, one ambulance, and a 2012 Polaris Ranger utility vehicle with an attack unit. It also has a 14-foot boat, bought through a donation from a village resident, which is used for river rescues in Tivoli Bays.
“Tivoli Bays is a big area, and we have big issues with kayakers and duck hunters, so we’re there a lot, there are a lot of issues,” Marc said.
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