Norristown Firemen Dig Deep To Cover Entire Night

More than 25 volunteers headed out to brave the storm last night during Hurricane Irene to assist Norristown area residents. Assistant Fire Chief Dave Keeley said it was a "crazy" night.

"We were very busy," he said. "We're all working on a serious lack of sleep."

Keeley said his team at the Norristown fire department spent more than 24 hours covering "all rescue calls." There were no fatalities in Norristown.

Keeley said one of their toughest calls for the night was to assist Norristown's homeless.

"A lady was living behind the band shell in Norristown," he said. "She sleeps there in the woods, and she didn't know the creek was coming up so high."

The assistant chief said the crew used ropes, as they did on many calls throughout the night, to rescue the stranded woman.

"We had two guys in mid-waist water," said Keeley. "They went out and got a PFD on her. She survived."

The department had nine men in the water for rescues throughout the night. The team, as of 2 p.m., had still not had a chance to rest.