Holy crap FF30 and Bekks, in THIS part of Can., it's like 9 deg.C. Snow's all melted away. Mind you, some people still have a hard time driving though.
It's always the same story, first snowfall of the year equals accidents due to not being prepared for the conditions. The numbers of accidents usualy drops after the first fall or two. We had 4, I believe, on our first.
Being of a curious nature can anyone tell me what is meant by the term '1st Alarm, 2nd Alarm' etc? We don't use that term in the UK, is it a call for more resources?
Yes Dave, each alarm is a set number of apparatus. For example 1st alarm would be 3 engines (pumps), a ladder truck and a rescue. The 2nd alarm might be 2 more engines and another ladder truck, 3rd alarm might be the same, etc. It is like when you say "make 6 pumps".
We have already had 26 inches of snow in Spokane and -2 degrees F. Last shift we threw a chain off while responding to a house fire from an EMS call. We slid into a snow bank and had to dig ourselves out, we still made the fire. The streets were really bad. It is stacking up to be a good one!
Yes, we get our fair share of it. But, really, it's not that bad. Our "winter" usually starts later than the western provinces anyway. I'll get my butt kicked for braggind how mild it is.
I was snowed in for 5 days a few years ago. That's the worst I have seen it here so far.
Newfoundland gets HAMMERED. It's crazy how much they get, and it sticks around all year.
We have had a few clipper storms that put 8 - 11inches each time in Minnesota, but luckily not a lot of PI Accidents, out biggest problem here is the snow gets so heavy on the power lines that they set trees on fire of start to arc, and it sucks for people having no power in these temps....
Thanks for clearing that up for Gregory, so just as I thought then. When we initiate a 'make up' call we ask for how many pumps we need then the special e.g. aierel ladder platform (ALP) water carrier/water tanker, heavy rescue unit which we call a rescue tender etc
That is correct, in our system you can also 'special call' any apparatus you might need for a specific job, like a water tender, ambulance, tower ladder, air supply, one more engine or truck, etc.