Fire department continues responding to weather calls, few life-threatening

Despite warmer temperatures and melting ice, the New Albany Fire Department was still responding to weather-related calls late Saturday.

About 1:30 p.m. they went to an accident in which a car went off the road and hit a tree on Hwy. 178 East.

Although the first report indicated someone was trapped in the vehicle and unresponsive, Fire Chief Mark Whiteside said the situation was not as critical as first reported. No extrication was needed and the injuries were reported to be not serious.

Fortunately, the department had only a few emergency medical calls this past week, but did provide transportation for health-related issues.

“We transported home health personnel, and individuals to some other health care facilities (such as a dialysis center) and assisted stranded motorists,” Whiteside said. “EMR calls were limited.”

They did respond to a report that someone had been injured sledding north of New Albany Friday afternoon.

“Rescue assisted with getting the patient up the hill and loaded into ambulance,” he said. The victim, a young girl, apparently sustained a broken leg in the accident.

One other call could have been severe, but wasn’t.

“We had the porch roof collapse on an individual at Sunshine Inn the other night,” he said. “No injuries. We just had to assist in removal.” The victim there was trapped in the space between the collapsed roof and the building.

Frozen water lines proved to be more of a problem.

“We had several buildings with busted fire sprinkler lines,” Whiteside said. “Cold temperatures set off an alarm at Lowes three times.” Earlier, they found water leaks from sprinkler systems that had been frozen in the former Goody’s store building and one of the buildings at the former Mohasco furniture plant.

“On the frozen sprinklers, we contacted buildings and businesses we have had issues with freezing in the past and had them check them,” he said. “One building we believe we caught before it busted.”

“We just spent most of our time on public safety and service calls,” he said. “Nothing serious this far, which is a such a blessing.”