How Urbana firefighters handle heightened calls during severe weather

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — First responders in Urbana have a set protocol for emergency calls after big storms like Monday’s. The top call for check-ups usually includes downed power lines and false fire alarms.

The Urbana Fire Department said power outages and flickers can sometimes cause alarms to go off. This can lead to many calls requesting check-ins. The department said times after big storms can be an all-hands-on-deck situation.

Following Monday’s storm, Urbana first responders are giving an in-depth look at how busy the call sheet can be in the hours after the rain. Requests for assistance start on the other line with dispatch.

“We’ll typically ask if is it a power failure; did you hear a popping sound, anything like that that would indicate maybe a power surge and a lightning strike, something like that,” said Brad Hardcastle, database administrator at METCAD in Urbana. “If it’s a line down, same thing. Is it on any structures? Is it in the trees? Is it down in the yard? And then we can prioritize the call from there.”

Hardcastle said the office works very closely with the Urbana Fire Department to separate the really urgent emergencies, like fires and downed lines, from check-in requests like false fire alarms.

“You know, that’s kind of the dispatcher’s job is to be that first level of, say, a filtering out. ‘Okay, this is an emergency, this isn’t,'” Hardcastle added.

From dispatch, it’s on firefighters like Greg Smith to go and check in on those who called.

“They get the information and then they send us and we keep going,” Smith said. “We keep going until there’s no calls to be run anymore.”

He said following Monday’s weather, the department got around 20 calls for check-ins. These usually get looked at in the order the call arrived or urgency of the situation.

“We get done checking a place and then they call in to dispatch and they say what’s next? And they’ll tell us where to go next,” Smith said. “So, they just start checking them off their list. They start to keep sending us to call after call. We just bounce all over.”

In the hours following Monday’s storm, Smith said, the department sent out all four engines, one ladder truck and a command car.

“It doesn’t matter if dinner’s on the table or not,” Smith said. “We keep going until they’re all done.”

Smith added that the department usually sees some consistency in check-in calls after big storms. That number usually sits right around 20.

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