Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

Fire and Police turn to FPF in Crisis

Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 by 1 comment

During the toughest stretch of our recent record-breaking blizzard, local police and fire departments turned to Front Porch Forum. Some examples:

1. Police could not spare the manpower to aid a stranded motorist out on East Ave. Sun was setting, temp was dropping, and snow was accumulating around this older gentleman. We responded by immediately calling about 300 households within a ten-minute walk.

2. In a similar case, a single mom reported that two elderly women on her block were snowed in and incommunicado. No signs of life from the outside… just snow drifted up and over the entryways. We notified about 75 nearby neighbors and asked for immediate help.

3. As the first of dozens of carbon monoxide emergencies showed up in Burlington, the Fire Department realized that snow was drifting over the outside vents of many residential gas-fired appliances causing CO backup and in many cases poisonings. Front Porch Forum broadcast the word the night of the storm and heard back things like…

After reading the message posted about clearing your vents I braved the outside at 11:30 PM and couldn’t even find my vent. I came back with my shovel and after poking around a bit I found it and cleared it… I’m sure I’ll have to do it every hour with the wind but thank you for the reminder!  -ONE West Neighborhood Forum

Posted in: Burlington, Community Building, Front Porch Forum, Stories, Vermont


One comment

  1. […] She also expressed frustration when “they” assume that she doesn’t “do email.” She’s all over it. I was surprised when we got our first octogenarian Front Porch Forum member, but now we enough 80-year-olds that it no longer grabs my attention. We also get adult children of people that age signing up on behalf of mom or dad and acting as a bridge to their neighbors through Front Porch Forum… another subscriber innovation that we didn’t anticipate! I’ve written here already of relevant FPF stories… e.g., snow 1 and 2 and cancer 1 and 2. […]

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