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September 16th
News
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Town Annual Meeting Focuses on Emergency Services
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Members of Westport’s boards and commissions received an update today about the town’s emergency services as part of the town’s annual meeting.
By charter, town board and commission members are required to convene one time per year for an annual meeting.
Police Chief Al Fiore and Fire Chief Chris Ackley presented an overview of how the town’s emergency services are working together and their plans for the future.
“We are constantly training to meet our changing needs,” Ackley said. “When there is snowy weather, it stresses all of our services.”
The local agencies train to respond to incidents that involve weapons of mass destruction, Fiore said.
It’s not a focus of training, he said, but police officers and firefighters need to be trained.
Reverse 911, he said, will also help them contact residents in emergencies to alert them of things such as flooding or a string of thefts.
“It will be a great tool for us so we can tell people what is going on,” he said.
Fiore said the work of the local emergency services has changed over the years since the Sept. 11 attacks.
“We are being called on to do more things that was once the job of federal agencies,” he said. “If we wait for the feds, we will wait for a long time.”
The U.S. Coast Guard used to help significantly with marine patrols, he said, but now the day to day operations fall mainly on the local marine units.
FBI agents once helped local police departments with bank robberies, Fiore said, but now that help is “few and far between” because the agents are focused on domestic and international terrorism.
Fiore said in the Labor Day weekend wind storms, there were more power lines down than he had seen before.
He lives near Long Lots Road, he said, and he had to go home through Fairfield because there were so many roads closed due to downed wires.
Planning and Zoning Commission Chairwoman Eleanor Lowenstein asked why can’t the wires be buried under ground.
First Selectman Gordon Joseloff said the utility companies say it is more expensive to bury them and they are harder to maintain.
Additionally, he said, the potential of something to go wrong is greater, such as the manhole explosion last summer.
Fiore said residents should consider burying the lines from the pole to their home so their power will be restored more quickly.
When power companies are restoring power, the lines from the pole to a home are the last things crews will repair, he said.
“You’ll be prepared better,” he said. “You won’t be the last person to have your power restored.”
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Note: WestportNow Publisher Gordon F. Joseloff is also First Selectman of Westport
