OVFC Responds To Twin Blizzards of 2010
12 February 2010 - The Odenton Volunteers "upstaffed" in response to the State of Emergency due to the back-to-back blizzards in early February 2010. An impressive total of 2600 duty hours were performed by 49 members during the eight day period of February 5-12. Six members put in more than 100 hours each. The County Fire Department added two to four additional around-the-clock career personnel to most fire stations except Odenton (Station 28).
We handled the heavy call volume and extra workload with our normal minimal career staffing of an around-the-clock driver and two weekday daytime firefighters. Hence, we saved the County a substantial amount in overtime costs.
During the eight day period, Station 28 responded to 167 emergency calls, most of which were medical calls. There were a total of 257 unit responses. Utility 28, which has a snow plow, was the busiest with 73 calls. Utility 28 was used to clear access for other emergency apparatus, and pulled out several ambulances stuck in the snow.
One of the most significant calls during the period was saving a cardiac arrest patient in the Waugh Chapel area on Sunday, February 7. Also, Engines 282 and 283, Truck 28 and Utility 28 responded to a house trailer fire on Clark Road in Jessup on Wednesday, February 10. After the fire was placed under control, crews from Engine 282 and Truck 28 were diverted to a nearby trailer where the resident was trapped in her home due to the collapse of her porch roof from excessive snow loading. The crews removed the snow from the trailer roof to mitigate the hazard and removed the resident.
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