Above: The Southborough Fire Department posted a request to clear 3-4′ around hydrants in their area. It came with the cautionary reminder that a fire doubles in size every minute. (Image from Facebook)
It’s been over a day since I posted about snow. So, I must be overdue.
Less than two weeks ago, I was looking forward to some snow. It didn’t feel like winter when there was no snow on the grass and no sledding for the kids.
I should have specified to Mother Nature that I was looking for “a little” snow. Because since then, we’ve gotten more than 50”. And more is coming soon.
Southborough Emergency Management Agency’s Neil Aspesi reports that the blizzard and this week’s snow storm brought us 45.8” of snow (33.6” + 12.2”). He approximates another 6” for the snowstorm on January 24th.
And the National Weather Service is predicting 3-4 more inches here tomorrow and chances for more snow early next week.
Unfortunately, as some have mentioned in comments, Southborough’s sidewalk plow is currently out of commission.
At last night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Town Administrator Mark Purple said the plow is 15 years old. He told the board that he recommends buying a new one using the old one for backup.
Chair Bill Bolond asked residents not to place place anything on their sidewalks before or during a snowstorm.
It seems that the plow operates more like a blower, eating through everything in its path. That means that trash on sidewalks or large rocks placed to protect mailboxes damage the plow. Boland said a mattress left on a sidewalk once caused the plow to be down for an extended period.
Another citizen reminder comes to us from SEMA. The agency asked me to share some important reminders. At this point our mantra should be Hydrants, Vents, and Roofs.
But they also point out that you might want to start thinking about basements. (All this snow will have to start melting sometime. Let’s hope it doesn’t start with a poorly timed rain.)
Here’s the message from SEMA:
1. Reminder for residents to keep shoveling out:
a. Fire hydrants (4’ x 4’). We realize it is getting tiring and repetitious but is extremely important and will save the fire department precious minutes when responding to a fire. Note that a fire doubles in size every minute.
b. All exterior house doorways and exhaust vents (especially direct vent heating units)
2. Be extremely careful clearing roofs of snow load and ice dams and never do it alone. The Fire Department recommends hiring a professional
3. Start to think ahead for possible basement flooding and take steps to mitigate/reduce water entering basements and possible damage to stored item.
Now that makes total sense to me. Winter, snow and the sidealk plow is down. How long has it been down, and whose responsibility is it to make sure it is in running order. Now we’re told we need a new sidewalk plow. We are now in Feb. and residents can’t walk on the sidewalk. Do you think it would have made sense to address this problem before we were slammed by snow, and continue to be.
I agree. Another well thought out plan from the DPW department head. Tune that ford explorer up as it looks like we will have to get another year out of it.