The arrival of “Superstorm” Sandy Monday evening kept emergency personnel in Shelton occupied — to say the least.
Assistant Chief Paul Wilson estimated that between 1 and 6 p.m. firefighters were sent to 60 to 80 calls in the two districts covered by the Echo Hose Hook and Ladder Co. 1 and Pine rock Park Fire Co. 4 alone.
“It’s been pretty busy,” Wilson said about 8:30 p.m. at the Echo Hose Hook and Ladder Co. 1 firehouse on Coram Avenue. “We had a tree fall through a trailer, we had a roof blow off a house on Jefferson Street, we evacuated a house on Shelton Avenue.”
Despite the call volume, there haven’t been any serious injuries, he said.
“To the best of my knowledge, even with the accidents we’ve had we’ve had no injuries,” he said. “We’ve been lucky so far.”
Shelton residents in need of shelter should call the city’s Emergency Operations Center at 203 – 924-5941.
“As of right now, each firehouse is taking people who need to be evacuated so we can house them,” Wilson said.
Residents with special needs will be taken to a special shelter in Danbury, he said.
Firefighters will remain at all four of the city’s firehouses throughout the duration of the storm.
“All our apparatus are staffed throughout the entire city,” Wilson said. “We’re trying to rotate the crews so they don’t get worn out.”
Wilson said officials are also keeping an eye on flood-prone areas of the city near the Housatonic to see if they suffer significant flooding during high tide — expected to happen just before midnight.
Even though there’s a lot going on, he said it seemed crews had more to do when Tropical Storm Irene hit the area in 2011.
“Thus far, we were probably busier with Irene last year,” Wilson said.
