City, Fire Department pleased with handling of snowstorm

There was not an increase in car wrecks during the weekends snow storm, according to the El Paso Fire Department.

Beginning on Saturday night, there were 66 motor vehicle accidents in the 24 hour period during the storm, said Carlos Briano, the Department’s Public Information Officer.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of accidents in El Paso regularly so that’s not a spike,” he said.

Briano said it really helped that agencies began preparing for the storm days in advance. The City’s Office of Emergency Management began making plans to deal with the storm as early as Wednesday, Briano said.

City crews prioritized overpasses and roads that lead to hospitals and fire stations. “The firefighters who are on duty have to come here first so if they can’t make it to the fire station that’s going to be problematic,” Briano said.

According to Briano, the biggest hazards over the weekend were downed power lines. “We had eight weather related outside electrical fires that happened due to wires coming down and sparking,” he said. There were an additional 17 calls for downed wires that the Fire Department was able to treat before they sparked or caught fire.

“The El Paso Fire Department is prepared to work 24-7, 365 regardless of what the weather is like. Whether it’s hot, cold, dry a snow or storm. It’s regular operations for us. We just have to adapt what we do.” Briano said firefighters have to ensure there is enough anti-freeze in each of their units and that the truck’s chain tires are working property so they can navigate the snow.

Briano asked El Pasoans to respect flashing lights and sirens on the road. “We understand people are busy, but have a little empathy. Realize that our guys are responding an emergency situation and it could be our family member or you’re family member or friend.”