here in northwest Ohio we get toned out and then we take all the trucks and separate them in different parts of our district and we "storm watch" for the county too.
Actually, as John already said our chief threat in the spring is the grass/brush/forest fires set by idiots who just have to burn SOMETHING when the snow melts. There have been two already this season, and there was still snow on the ground! I hope that isn't an indicator of things to come.
Next would be flooding due to ice dams or heavy rain melting the snow pack on the hills.
We seldom get tornadoes, although one started about 1/2 mile north of my home in 1995 and raised some havoc. We also had a close call in 1999 with tree branches falling out of the sky from a storm to the west of us. We do not go on alert if there are watches or warnings issued.
I was told by an old firefighter once its not if it will happen its when it will happen. We get our share of bad storms but havent had a tornado since the mid 80s. But i could happen. Anybody out west have any ideas on preparing for this?
Contact your local National Weather Service Office or local TV station weather dept. Most of the time they have programs ready to present for free in most cases. Don't forget your local, county or state Emergency Management folks. They can be a great assist for these types of events. FEMA also has on line stuff that is useful.
Last but not least is contact your local Ham radio groups. A lot of them as a public service part of their organizations get involved with storm spotting for the NWS and have access to excellent weather emergencies training programs.
Wehave refresher training on weather spotting. Yes here in kansas we do get tornados If you can belive that LOL We also plan out who is going where to watch and what are theyy taking (pov,truck, etc) An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure . Or so I have been told over and over .
During Tornado/Severe T-Storms watches, we monitor the Radar and NWS. If a tornado is reported in the area, we have an apparatus dispersion plan. By pre-positioning apparatus around the district, we reduce the probability of being "cut-off" from any part of the district or from responding on mutual aid/automatic aid calls, due to storm/tornado damaged roadways. This action is initiated by the Chief of the FD.
Chris, where I am from we have had tornados from Jan. to Nov. We have HASTY TEAMS which is a very fast search and triage system. Let me know if you want more info.
We run through our routes taken by each truck. We cover as much of the town as possible announcing that there is a tornado warning on the PA. Each truck has a designated spot to park and storm watch.