Oxford Crews Busy During Rain Storm

As the skies got a little brighter and the rain stopped early Monday afternoon, local emergency crews and public works employees finally enjoyed some down time.

It was well deserved after they spent more than 24 hours responding to several emergency calls that began yesterday morning.

It started when a large tree fell across the road at 389 Oxford Road, or Route 67. The road was shut down for a while as workers from the state Department of Transportation cut up the tree and removed it from the state road.

Firefighters responded to that incident as well as one about 1 p.m. when trees and wires fell around 11 Upson Road, Fire Chief Scott Pelletier said.

• A half-hour after the Upson Road incident, firefighters rushed to the area of 231 Oxford Road, in front of the Brookside Inn Restaurant, where a driver was attempting to turn into the restaurant parking lot and was struck by another car, causing a bad accident, Pelletier said. Firefighters extricated the two people who were headed to the restaurant, and four people were taken to area hospitals for what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.
• Just after midnight this morning, firefighters went to 3 Owl Ridge for a smell of a gas that turned out to be sewer gas.
• At 8:30 this morning, firefighters helped pump a basement at 443 Oxford Road that was filled with about 16 inches of water. Pelletier said the homeowner later noticed the water backup was caused by a plugged pipe, which was later fixed.
• Firefighters and police also responded to the usual areas where water pools over the road, including at Echo Valley Road, Riggs Street and Wyant Street, Pelletier said. Those roads were briefly shut down in some areas. 

“All that kept us pretty busy, but it’s finally starting to slow down,” Pelletier said mid-Monday afternoon.