City departments prep for winter
Fall was relatively mild this year, but there’s no guarantee that winter will be as easygoing — and with Bella Vista’s terrain, it wouldn’t hurt to prepare for the worst.
Bella Vista Fire Chief Steve Sims said it’s important to stay informed and keep an eye on local weather channels. He also suggested having a battery-operated or handcrank powered radio to stay informed if power is lost.
Sims said stocking up on supplies ahead of time is vital. It may take a few days, he said, for the roads to be cleared, and in the event of a severe weather disaster, FEMA could take a few days to show up.
“Keep some stock rotated out so that you always have three days’ worth of food,” he said.
Keeping potable water, he said, is also important, and ideally one should have a minimum of one gallon per person per day.
For a more complete picture of what one might need, he said, residents can check ready.gov.
If the home is heated with any kind of fuel, he said, it’s important to make sure there’s a good supply of that fuel, be it seasoned firewood or propane. And anyone who has a fireplace, he said, should check to ensure their flues are clean.
Moreover, he said, everyone should be careful to ensure they are using their heating systems correctly.
“This is the time of year we see lots of fires,” he said.
A lot of those fires, he said, are the result of issues with and misuse of heating systems. Residents, he said, should make sure they are following the manufacturer’s guidelines for their heating systems.
Moreover, he said, a faulty fuel-burning heater could be putting out carbon monoxide, so having a CO detector is absolutely essential. Smoke detectors should also be checked, he said, to ensure they are working correctly.
“I can’t stress smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors enough,” he said.
Sims said that it would be ideal for most people to stay off the roads until the roads are clear, unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Sims said that his department’s ambulances are all four-wheel-drive, as are his command vehicles — the red SUVs that sit in front of the station. This should allow the department better mobility in the event of a major winter weather event, he said.
Additionally, he said, he works with the Police Department to help provide aid to the public. Station 1’s training room, he said, is a warm space available to people who are stuck near the station, and Fire Department and police personnel can give people rides home, when time is available — though on occasion, he said, he’s had to divert to the scene of an emergency with someone else in his vehicle.
Police Chief Ken Farmer said that his department now has enough fourwheel-drive vehicles that, if there is severe winter weather, every officer can be out in one.
“We offer transportation to emergency workers, people like doctors and nurses,” he said. “Sometimes we’re very busy in that time, so they might have to wait a while. But we will try to get them to work.”
The department used to have volunteers to provide rides to the public, he said, but this was scrapped for liability reasons.
Road clearing is handled by the Street Department. The initial focus is on clearing major arterial roads before moving into smaller streets, superintendent Mike Button said.
Button said that his department has 18 pieces of snow removal equipment, including trucks with plows and sand spreaders, dump trucks and road graders.
“We put ourselves on alert and make sure all our equipment is ready to go when there’s any slight chance of precip,” Button said.
The department already has a healthy supply of sand and salt for the roads, he said, left over from last year’s mild winter. Additionally, he said, the department’s new storage building for that sand and salt should be completed by the end of this week, assuming the weather cooperates.
The amount of time it would take to clear snow, he said, is dependent largely on the specific event.
“Say it snowed Sunday morning,” Button said. “We would be out Sunday and have the main roads clear by Monday.”
But if the snow kept falling, he said, keeping the roads clear could be all but impossible.