'Impossible to Keep Up' at Height of Storm, Fire Chief Says

Local fire and rescue squad chiefs are reporting trees down and wires across the roadways all throughout Bridgewater as the first day of Hurricane Sandy comes to a close.

"At this time, we remain on standby, but with the amount of trees and wires down, I'm not sure we will be able to respond to any calls at this time," said Finderne Rescue Squad Chief Marc Sowden.

The squad, Sowden said, is remaining on call throughout the evening and into Tuesday, but things have been fairly quiet, despite widespread power outages throughout the area.

"We have not had any request for service as of yet, thankfully," he said.

Bill Rose, with the Martinsville Volunteer Fire Co., said the department is having some trouble keeping up with the rapidly increasing number of incidents.

"As the evening is progressing, we are experiencing many trees down with wires arcing," he said. "Incidents are rapidly increasing at this time throughout the township."

The department, Rose said, is handling as many incidents as possible, but some areas of town are difficult to get to because of effects of the hurricane.

"We are blocked access to some parts of the fire district by downed wires and trees," he said. "Right now it's impossible to keep up."