Ramsey November 28, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Ramsey officials are mulling the fate of Squad 451, the fire department’s newlyacquired vehicle that was crushed on Oct. 29 during Hurricane Sandy. Last week, Ramsey Assistant Fire Chief Randall Sterbinsky noted that the borough’s insurance company would be reviewing the case. The vehicle, he said, suffered a broken axle and other extensive damage when it was crushed by a large tree and a utility pole. “In that truck were firefighters who miraculously avoided injury; however, live wires fell across the truck and burned holes into it as the firefighters patiently waited to be rescued,” Sterbinsky reported. “Luckily, as other emergency crews were being dispatched to the scene, a nearby transformer exploded and cut the power to the wires, which allowed (the two firefighters) to escape without harm.” The two firefighters who were inside Squad 451 had gone out to put up roping to keep people away from an area where there were live wires in the street. Before they could carry out that job, the tree and utility pole came down onto the vehicle. Sterbinsky pointed out that fire, rescue and EMS responded to a second mayday Borough mulls fate of emergency vehicle call on Oct. 29. That call involved Ramsey Police Captain Raymond Bailey, who was pinned under a large tree. Responders extricated Bailey and he was transported to a trauma center with serious injuries. In a recent report, Sterbinsky noted that the first call for help due to the storm came in at approximately 5 p.m. on Oct. 29. The emergency involved live wires down on a borough street. In rapid succession, there was another wire down, smoke in a house, and then a tree on a house. At the point of when the first tree came down onto a house, the planned unified command of fire, rescue, and EMS went into effect. The three agencies worked together to cover emergencies in a shared response and worked shoulder to shoulder to protect the Borough of Ramsey. Police dispatchers received emergency calls for help and immediately sent the information to the fire dispatch center, where the different agencies’ representatives sent appropriate equipment and crews to the various problems in town. During the height of the storm, 40 emergency calls were answered. The most serious calls included nine homes hit by trees (continued on page 10) Hurricane Sandy caused major damage to the Squad 451 emergency vehicle.