TOLEDO, Ohio — While northwest Ohio is on the brink of severe weather Thursday night, area first responders are on standby. While they're prepared for emergency situations to become even trickier due to the weather, it's still business as usual.
Despite the holiday weekend, Toledo Fire and Rescue Pvt. Sterling Rahe said the department is also prepared to call more firefighters in if needed.
"The one thing that's interesting about this is we're coming into the holiday weekend. In this regard, there's a lot of people ready to react that would be off normally, but they're ready to react," Rahe said.
The fire department's biggest concern about the coming weather isn't the snow. It's the high winds that can quickly feed and spread a fire.
"Wind-driven fires are a whole different animal when it comes to fighting them," Rahe said. "We've talked in the past about how fire can travel really quickly, and a wind-driven fire makes it even worse."
Fire isn't the only concern, either. The higher the winds, the higher the chances of downed power lines.
"If we do have power lines that are down, telephone poles that are damaged, please stay away from them. If they're down, if they're arcing, call 911," Rahe said.
The fire department has been proactively preparing coordinated responses to a variety of emergency situations with Toledo Edison and other entities that provide necessities to Toledoans.
Ultimately, if you don't feel safe going out, just stay home, Rahe said.
Rahe said those staying home who want to be prepared in case of a fire should clear walkways and clear paths to any fire hydrants on their property.