Snowmaggeden in Europe

Two years ago we were in the middle of Snowmagedden. A Delayed Meet

2010 picture from dcfd.com

Europe has been smacked hard by snow. According to Associated Press's Frances D'Emilio, Italy is issuing government snow shovels to handle the up to 8" snowfall, the worst they have experienced in 26 years.

Snow on the racetrack

Scuderia Ferrari tweeted this picture of their racetrack:

That has not slowed down preparation for the next Formula 1 season. Here is a sneak preview of their latest vehicle:

Better ground clearance than their non-snow version, that appears to use as snow shovel as a aerodynamic aid:

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Early Reports Claim High Damage and Many People Trapped

Updates continually.  Scroll down.
Videos added.
Police dispatch live link added.
Tornado outburst in Worcester, 50 miles west of Boston

5:30 pm Eastern:  A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, Wednesday afternoon at 4:45 pm.  The twister first touched down in West Springfield and moved into Springfield destroying houses and tossing some cars over.  There have been many reports of people trapped in the cars and damaged homes, but it is too early to get confirmed information on the extent of damage.

Springfield Republican

The public safety command post has been set up at 50 Maple Street.  Firegeezer will be updating as fresh information comes in.

5:45 pm
Two funnel clouds have been sighted, one in Wesfield and the other in Springfield.  As of 5:30 the Springfield funnel was still on the ground.  It traveled through the downtown area and unconfirmed reports say that heavy damage was sustained.

Citizen photo of funnel over West Springfield

From WPRI-TV Ch. 12:

Tornado hits Mass.; RI under warning: wpri.com

From WCVB-TV Ch. 5

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Police dispatch live link:  CLICK HERE then click on the "Springfield Police" line.

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WTNH-TV Ch. 8 – shows some downtown damage:

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Update 7:40 pm
Reports are still coming in on additional funnel clouds being sighted in Worcester, 50 miles west of Boston.  Harrington Hospital in Worcester Southbridge is moving their patients into the hallways.  375 hospital staff being recalled, gearing up for more emergency patients.

Report of more than 30 cars overturned on Route 84.  One hotel reported collapsed.  Ambulances blocked by trees over roadways.

USAR teams and mutual aid task forces being mobilized.  Town of Palmer reportedly needing USAR help.

Worcester Fire & Rescue live radio feed….CLICK HERE.  Fire units reporting twister touchdowns in their proximity.

District Chief to engine… tornado reported on ground.
Engine to chief, roger that, it is right in front of us.
Ok, be careful.

(Thanks to Mark Donovan for assistance)

Worcester Telegram & Gazette is reporting online:

State police scanner reports indicated significant damage to the center of Monson, Brimfield, Sturbridge and Charlton.

At 5:23 p.m., trained weather spotters reported a funnel cloud northwest of Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, according to the weather service. At 5:41 p.m., the weather service's Doppler radar was tracking a tornado near Millbury, moving east at 35 mph.

　

Another tornado was being tracked in Brimfield at 6:55 p.m., moving east at 35 mph, and a tornado warning remains in effect until 8 p.m. for southern Worcester County. The National Weather Service described the situation as extremely dangerous and life-threatening and urged people to take cover immediately.

Sturbridge scene  (T&G)

WWLP-TV Ch.  22 Springfield reports:

Thomas Walsh, aide to Mayor Domenic Sarno told 22News that the City of Springfield has requested that the National Guard come to the city, where there has been damage from a tornado. Walsh said that the National Guard is on its way.

The State Police Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) has been called in to help search damaged buildings for the possibility that anyone is trapped. Traffic into the city is being limited, as highway ramps leading to the city have been closed by State Police.

Update, 10 pm:
Governor Patrick has called up 1,000 National Guard troops and has declared a state of emergency.  It was also announced that there are four known deaths from the storms, one in West Springfield, one in Brimfield, and two in Westfield.

The violent storm system has left the state, no immediate danger exists other than possibility of building collapses.

West Springfield damage.  (WWLP-TV)

Adams Grocery Store – Monson.  (WWLP-TV)

This post has now been closed.  Any further updates will be later in new postings.

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Most Of The Northern Hemisphere Is Covered With Snow

THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) released this satellite map Wednesday showing that almost the entire northern hemisphere was covered by snow on Monday:

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From today’s press release:

MEDSTAR SUSPENDS LIGHTS-AND-SIREN RESPONSES DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER

Dallas / Fort Worth, TX — February 1, 2011 – Due to dangerous road conditions in Fort Worth and surrounding areas, MedStar has temporarily suspended lights-and-sirens responses out of concern for crew and public safety. Officials will continually monitor roadways to determine when it is safe to resume such responses.

Historically, MedStar sees a dramatic rise in the number of emergency calls during icy weather, particularly motor vehicle collisions and falls. In order to address this increase, additional staff have been called in and a contingency plan has been implemented to maintain staff on-site or nearby to help facilitate operations.

Calls to 9-1-1 are prioritized to address the most life-threatening needs first. During a situation like today’s ice storm, the same system is used, however wait times for non-emergency calls may be extended due to hazardous road conditions and the increased number of calls.

MedStar is dedicated to meeting the emergency medical needs of the communities we serve, even when the weather turns bad. MedStar joins with the city to urge residents to stay off the roads, if possible until conditions improve.

MEDSTAR Press Release

Dallas weather: 

A frigid blast of Arctic air blitzed North Texas on Tuesday with freezing rain, snow and blustery winds. 

Icy conditions closed Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport and area schools. 

Tonight:

16.9 °F Overcast Windchill: 9 °F Humidity: 59% Dew Point: 5 °F Wind: 9.2 mphfrom the North

Hard freeze warning in effect until 10 am CST Wednesday…
Wind Chill Advisory in effect until 10 am CST Wednesday…
Tonight
Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Breezy. Lows around 10. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph shifting to the north 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Wind gusts up to 35 mph are possible. Wind chill readings as low as 4 below to 9 below zero.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries. Highs in the lower 20s. North winds 15 to 20 mph. Wind chill readings as low as 3 below to 8 below zero.

Responding to over 100,000 calls each year, MedStar EMS is the exclusive emergency and non-emergency ambulance service provider to over 880,000 residents throughout Fort Worth and 14 other Tarrant County cities including Haltom City, Burleson, Saginaw, White Settlement, Forest Hill, River Oaks, Lake Worth, Sansom Park, Westworth Village, Blue Mound, Edgecliff Village, Haslet, Lakeside and Westover Hills. Established in 1986, MedStar is governed by the Area Metropolitan Ambulance Authority board of directors and is one of only 132 ambulance services in the country to receive national accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services.

Mike “FrigidMedic” Ward

More Firefighting From the Cold Front

WHEN THAT ARCTIC AIR SETTLED OVER NEW ENGLAND Sunday and Monday, there probably wasn’t any greater challenge than the apartment fire that faced the Lebanon, New Hampshire, firefighters shortly after 8:30 am on Monday morning while the outside temperature was minus-20º F.  (For you folks in Canada, that’s minus-29 C.)

An alarm was dispatched for fire in an apartment building and when the FD arrived they found a 3-story, balloon-framed building that houses 11 apartments.  They encountered heavy fire showing at the rear of the first floor.  The chief immediately called for a second alarm.

The Lebanon FD press release tells:

Units entered the second floor middle section of the building and were able to stop the spread of the fire to the rear portion of the structure. Due to ceiling and roof collapse units were ordered to fight the rear portion from the exterior. The building suffered major fire damage to the rear four apartments and moderate damage to the two middle units.

The remainder of the building sustained water and smoke damage. The fire was declared under control at 1105 hours. Units remained on scene awaiting the arrival of an excavator to assist in pulling the heavily damaged portion of the building apart so that units can extinguish “hot spots”.

There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire was found to be the building owner attempting to thaw some water pipes in the basement with a torch.

Report and photos provided by Lebanon Fire Department.
Lebanon Fire Department WEBSITE.

Arctic Weather Challenges Northeastern Firefighters

THE WAVE OF SUB-FREEZING WEATHER THAT swept across New England and the Mid-Atlantic states Monday set up some real challenges for firefighters as hydrants froze and working areas iced over.  We are bringing just two examples of the many challenging fires that confronted fire and rescue departments yesterday.

photo by Nate Arnold

SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, FIREFIGHTERS were called out at 3:30 am for a house fire that was spreading to the home next to it with temperatures sitting at Minus-12 F. on Benton Street.  It was the third of four working fires that they had in a 24-hr. span.

Nate Arnold photo

The Republican REPORTS that the house was vacant and the fast-growing fire started burning the next house over that was about 20 ft. away.  Flying embers landed on the roof of a third house and burned through the shingles.  The first units in were confronted with frozen hydrants and rapidly deteriorating conditions.  A second alarm was dispatched ten minutes into the operation.

Nate Arnold photo

The Republican also filed this video report from the scene:

Fire photographer Nate Arnold has an 81-image photo gallery HERE.

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MONROE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, FIRE DEPARTMENTS responded to a working apartment fire where they found every hydrant in the complex was frozen.  With the outside temperature sitting at 0º F., they had to rely on a drafting operation from an ice-covered creek.

WNEP-TV Ch. 16 Scranton posted this good video report on how they met the weather challenges:

They struck a total of 7 alarms to bring in enough equipment and manpower to handle the operation and they successfully contained the fire to two units in the center of the affected building.  (Firegeezer calls it a “good stop”).

WFMZ-TV Allentown also covered the fire and posted this video on the fire itself:

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IN SHAMOKIN, PENNSYLVANIA, THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT IN COAL TOWNSHIP started up their unique reserve engine and fought this large house fire Monday afternoon:

News Item photo

The News Item, under the headline Police Officer Rescues Dog, reports on this special firetruck that must have been made before 1940:

Firefighters, first dispatched about 1:30 p.m. Monday, were having trouble containing the blaze and at 2:20 p.m. were ordered out of the building.

They’re now working with hoses from outside the house and with a cannon truck, which was trained at the third floor of the home.

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Jonathan Lemire, writing for Tuesday’s NY DAILY NEWS, filed this report:

The backlog of emergency calls to the FDNY – which hit a staggering 1,300 at the height of the Christmas blizzard – dropped to under 200 Tuesday morning, officials said.

Only 166 calls were still outstanding as of 10 a.m., three of which were considered life-threatening, according to FDNY sources.

The potentially dangerous delays were created by the massive blizzard, which made scores of roads impassable and even buried some ambulances in massive snowdrifts.

Marino for New York Daily News

Read more HERE

CBS New York covered the delays in this article:
NYC Faced With Tough Questions About Blizzard Response (HERE)

including this example:

A dramatic example of the chaos was what happened to a Queens’ woman suffering an asthmatic attack. Engine 289 got to her house and spent 10 hours with her waiting for an EMS ambulance to show up. They kept running out of oxygen, eventually using up 26 bottles. The woman was finally taken to Elmhurst Hospital when the 46 Battalion Chief arrived.

Earlier in the evening Later Engine 289 was first due on the first alarm 41-72 Judge Street.
Fire went to a 5th alarm with partial collapse in a six story H-shaped apartment building.
. Battalion 46 was second arriving chief. (HERE)

Gothamist provided additional details

<<<<<<<<<<<    >>>>>>>>>

1PolicePlaza tweeted:

FDNY EMS has a aprox 5 hoour delay to Emergencies. FDNY personal are advised not to do CPR more then 20 min due to high vol of jobs.
9:27 AM Dec 27th via txt

<<<<<<<<<<<<<  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

.

They interviewed a veteran medic:

Multiple ambulances are stuck all over the city, and response times to high priority jobs are nonexistent. The roads here in Brooklyn have not been cleared, there are abandoned vehicles all over the place, and EMS has come to a standstill, unknown how fire suppression and NYPD are faring.

The city should have preemptively declared an emergency, made sure that nonessential vehicles stayed off the road, and sanitation should have coordinated better to have main roads and roads leading to hospitals cleared.

The city is in a chaotic state, and someone should demand to see how many people had passed away during this time period.

FDNY, EMS Response Compromised During Blizzard

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

AP

In a fine demonstration of why it is not wise to use a piece of fabric for your roof, especially in places that have snowfalls on a regular basis, the Minneapolis Metrodome has released the surveillance videos documenting the fifth and latest collapse of their fabric roof.

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*  There are still three people missing and unaccounted for after the disastrous explosion and fire in San Bruno, California.

Another twist in the story is coming to light as records from the gas company, PG&E are being examined.  Two years ago they were given a rate increase to raise funding to start replacing portions of that same pipe, but all of the money was spent on other projects and management bonuses instead.  They had just recently applied for another rate increase to replace that same section of line that they had collected for earlier.

NECN is reporting via video:

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*  THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE says that they will have investigators in New York City today trying to determine if there was in fact a tornado within the destructive storm that swept through Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens last evening (Firegeezer report HERE).   

They will be looking over the area and mapping out the width and intensity of the storm to determine if a tornado touched down, according to a NWS spokesman.  He added that eight tornados have hit New York City since 1950. The last was in July, when a small one hit the Bronx during a thunderstorm that left thousands without power. In 2007, a tornado with winds up to 135 mph touched down in Staten Island and in Brooklyn, where it damaged homes and ripped the roof off a car dealership.

This famous photograph showing a twister passing near
the Statue of Liberty was taken on July 7, 1976.

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*  THE INVESTIGATION IS COMPLETED into the cause of a tragic farmhouse fire that we reported on back in July HERE in Germany.  Six people including an entire family perished in the blaze while four others escaped but were injured.  Our story was punctuated by a poignant photo of a volunteer firefighter taken after the fire was out.  It is a rural area where everybody knew the family, including the FF’s.

The police investigators and the local prosecuter have been unable to determine an exact cause, partly because of the amount of destruction.  Through elimination they have narrowed it to either an electrical malfunction or an accident involving a candle.  Officially it will be classed as “unknown.”

NYBuff

The storm came out of western New Jersey, hit Staten Island with 70-mph winds, then moved through Brooklyn and Queens with the winds acclerating up to 100-mph.  It apparently spent out after reaching Great Neck.  This video from a ship’s bridge shows it moving across New York Harbor:

Tornado warnings were issued for Staten Island at 5:20 pm, Brooklyn at 5:24 pm, and for Queens at 5:36 pm.  The warnings were lifted city-wide at 6:00 pm.  There are reports of untold hundreds of trees down, many onto houses and automobiles. 

NYBuff

Also reports of roofs being ripped off and several tractor-trailers being blown over. 

Wires down throughout the entire city and as of 10:30 p.m., Con Ed reported 29,605 outages in Queens; 3,787 on Staten Island; 195 in Brooklyn; and 12 in the Bronx..  The storm was moving so rapidly that many people didn’t have warning of its approach, as evidenced in this home video:

One woman was killed when a tree landed on her car after she had pulled over to stop during the rain in Queens.  Partial building collapses were reported in two Queens locations and two more in Brooklyn.

It is too early to get any accurate numbers on fire/rescue activity that came as a result of the storm.  We will post any relevant updates on Friday.