BFD Responds to About 50 Sandy-Related Calls

Members of the Brewster Fire Department have been responding all week to issues caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Downed wires and transformer fires—along with about half a dozen reports of trees crashing onto houses—made up the bulk of the calls, First Assistant Chief Bill Rieg told Patch. In total, about 30 volunteers handled approximately 50 complaints, which started Monday morning and began to slow Wednesday evening.

None of the Brewster or Southeast calls linked to the storm involved injuries, Rieg said Tuesday afternoon, but one of the mutual aid requests did. BFD was at the scene of a tragedy that claimed the lives of two boys in North Salem. Two other children were treated.

Brewster also assisted surrounding departments on a call in Carmel. Rieg said no one was hurt during that fire, which was reportedly limited to the structure's basement. It occurred around 4 a.m. Tuesday in a Wyndham Lane home. Firefighters from across the area responded to a house on the same street when a blaze killed four members of the Sullivan family in the spring.

While members did receive a few reports of possible structure fires in Brewster and Southeast, the complaints turned out to be false alarms, according to officials.

Southeast Supervisor Tony Hay was grateful for the lack of tragedy in the town.

"Thank God," he said.