HALIFAX – Many Nova Scotians stayed inside to escape Wednesday’s blizzard, but one group is not shying away from the weather — local emergency responders.
LIVE BLOG: Spring blizzard hits Atlantic Canada
Halifax Regional Fire, EHS and Halifax Regional Police said even in bad weather, it’s business as usual for them, with a few slight adjustments.
Halifax Regional Police Staff Sgt. Barb Saunders with said police vehicles will still be out and about though there will be some additional vehicle power.
“We do have some extra 4×4 vehicles we’re using today just to get through the snow. We’ll be responding to any emergency calls that do come into us,” she said.
She said the weather and visibility may prove difficult for police, and she is urging residents stay safe.
Gallery: Spring snow storm hits Atlantic Canada
Firefighters are still performing their regular duties, but some operations have been affected because of the blizzard.
“We may scale back the numbers of trucks that respond. We’re still responding but instead of a three truck response, we may scale back to a one truck response to assess the situation then upgrade if necessary,” said deputy fire chief Roy Hollett.
“All unnecessary travel has been postponed. Normally you would see trucks training or transfers, that’s been postponed for today. We had station crews remain at their stations and only respond to emergencies.”
Hollett said there will also be no aerial firefighting capabilities due to the strong winds hitting the area, which will also affect how firefighters tackle fires.
“If we were to get a structure fire. We may be looking at different tactics, going defensive versus offensive, meaning fighting the fire from the outside and not sending crews to the inside,” he said.
Ambulances and paramedics will have normal operations but the regional support supervisor for the central region of EHS warns it may take them a bit longer to arrive on scene.
“We do respond in any type of weather situation. Our responses may be a little delayed given the weather and the road systems,” said Greg Wolfe.
He also said staffing during the blizzard is higher than normal.
“If anything, we increase our paramedics and ambulances on the road in these circumstances because of the impacts we might experience in the system.”
Representatives from public safety organizations and essential services, such as Nova Scotia Power, Metro Transit, HRP and Halifax Regional Fire, gathered at the Emergency Management Office in Burnside early Wednesday to monitor the storm and determine how to react.
EMO Coordinator Barry Manuel said this is the first time this year the snow coordination centre has been set up.
“We haven’t felt the need to bring them together before this,” he said. “This allows them to be able to talk back and forth and coordinate resources.”
Manuel did not have an estimate on how long the storm coordination centre will remain operational but adds it will disband once the weather improves.
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