MOV first responders discuss how they handled a windstorm

LITTLE HOCKING, Ohio (WTAP) - The Mid-Ohio Valley was battered by a severe windstorm on Saturday March 25.

Fire departments throughout Wood and Washington Counties rushed from call to call to respond to issues caused by the weather.

Little Hocking Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mike Chevalier said his department had their hands full. “We had lots of trees across the road way and the power lines, which consequently started several brush fires” Chevalier said. “A lot of the difficulty with that is, you can’t do anything until the power is turned off. But we were busy all day on Saturday, with brush fires, trees down, and power lines across the roadway.”

According to Vienna Fire Chief Steve Scholl, things weren’t much different on the other side of the river. “We’ve responded to approximately 20 calls over the weekend, and two more so far today,” Scholl said. “Anything from trees on the buildings, power lines down, power poles snapped, roads blocked.”

Thanks to the action of the Vienna Fire Department and other first responders, Scholl said that all blocked roads in Vienna had been cleared by Monday, with the exception of 51st Street, where workers were still trying to address damaged lines Monday afternoon.

Scholl described what it’s like to respond to severe weather as it’s happening. “Well, as short handed as we and every other department are, you basically just run from one call to the next,” He said. “You’re on one, you get that secured as best you can, they notify you of another one, you try and get it secured.”

Scholl said an apartment building in Vienna was among the most severely damaged structures in the storm. “One apartment building that had a tree down on it,” he said. “It went through the roof and everything. It was an unoccupied apartment, and they were remolding it at the time.”

Scholl said no one in the apartment or elsewhere in Vienna or the county was injured, as far as he was aware. Little Hocking Fire Chief Chevalier similarly said he wasn’t aware of any injuries either, though his department did have to help some people who were stranded by trees in roadways.

Both Scholl and Chevalier emphasized the collaboration between fire departments in their respective counties. “Barlow had a pretty serious incident last night where a tree fell into a home, and three different departments were out there helping to close the home up for the homeowner, had some damage to the roof line and things, so, yeah, the departments all work together well,” Chevalier said.

“We had to assist Eastwood Fire Department,” Scholl said. “They were all out on calls so we stood by their area to help cover for them. Multiple departments were helping other departments throughout the whole county. We have a great mutual aid system here in Wood County that’s just -- we’re just blessed to have that.”

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