On Monday, October 29th, 2012, the eastern seaboard was hit with one of the largest and most powerful storms ever – the now historic Hurricane Sandy. The storm itself had a very unique combination of weather factors that contributed to its path, record setting low pressure, heavy rainfall, high winds, and coverage over an area nearly 1,000 miles wide. Because of the landfall in mid-New Jersey and the counter clockwise spin of the hurricane, Northern Westchester County faced very high, damaging winds, and Bedford was brought to a standstill.

Our members worked tirelessly to check and prepare all of our equipment prior to the storm, and made sure to secure the necessary supplies to sustain our members and others for days following the storm. Monday night brought the worst conditions and highest call volume, with sustained winds between 45 and 70 miles an hour and gusts up to 110 miles an hour. Members were put on standby in quarters "at the ready", and a Town of Bedford Emergency Operations Center was activated at the Bedford Hills Fire Department to handle call volume.

Bedford Village faced an enormous amount of wind-related damage, with many old growth trees and large evergreens snapped like twigs trapping residents in their homes and vehicles. Nearly every primary and secondary road in Bedford was impassable to vehicles as hundreds of trees and utility poles toppled down. Power to the entire area (including all of the substations) was abruptly knocked out, and many transformers "exploded" while wires lay like spaghetti in the roadway.

Many were rescued during the worst part of the storm by our department - making sure to get those trapped outside to our department for shelter. During the storm and in the subsequent weeks of clean up, we answered over 100 calls for help. These included trees and wires down, transformer and pole fires, propane leaks, carbon monoxide alarms and investigations, EMS calls, residential fire alarms, brush fires, smoke investigations, generator fires, and possible structure fires.

By and large, roads were still impassable by our engines and ambulance, so Utility 140 and our Chiefs cars were stocked with all necessary supplies to get under and around downed trees, and to the calls. The Fire Department served as a warming and electronic charging center for town residents – while utility companies provided dry ice to keep food from spoiling. Ready to eat meals and water were also made available to those who needed it. The Bedford Fire Department also helped to perform welfare checks on older residents, and assisted in cutting trees from driveways and roads.

The area had been declared a disaster zone by FEMA, and thousands of personnel from the National Guard as well as many out of town utility and tree companies staged in Bedford to help repair the town. The National Guard arrived with hundreds of troops, machines, and equipment to clear damage – tree workers and linemen worked in Bedford from upstate New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Alabama, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, Florida, Texas, California, and even Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada. Trucks and equipment were flown in by the 105th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard (in Newburgh, New York) from other parts of the country. A veteran lineman from New Brunswick described the utility damage as "the worst [he's] ever seen".

Adding an insult to injury, the area faced a snowstorm that hampered recovery efforts in the following week, dumping up to 10 inches of heavy wet snow in some places. This snow blew out transformers, and toppled previously repaired telephone poles and lines.

In writing this nearly two weeks after the storm, Bedford is back on its feet. Power has been restored to the entire town, and although the out of town crews remain, many cables, poles, and transformers have been reset and replaced. Trees have been removed from the roadsides and off of houses – all roads are re-opened. Gas lines and rations have returned to normal, and so has our call volume.

In closing – it is important to remember a few safety tips, should a storm like this occur in Bedford again:
- Always assume a downed power line is live! Call 911 and keep your distance from the wire.
- Power outages means portable and fixed generator usage. Portable generators should be at least 25 feet from the house to ensure no carbon monoxide build up. Fixed generators should be properly installed and maintained to prevent overheating, fires, and carbon monoxide incidents.
- If your carbon monoxide detector activates, don't shrug it off and forget about it. Call 911 – its better to be safe than sorry.
- Those without power (especially in Winter months) are more apt to using a fireplace. Be sure to have your chimney inspected and cleaned once a year to prevent build up of materials that may lead to a chimney fire at your home.

And remember, we're just neighbors helping neighbors, a 100% volunteer fire department. In times like this we need all the help we can get – so stop by the firehouse for an application or check out our website under "recruitment". We'd love to hear from you!