By Cristy Bertini
Reporter
- WARREN –
In the wake of the recent tornadoes that went through area towns last week, Warren resident Paul Jarvis appeared before the board of selectmen to voice his concern over the lack of an emergency plan in the town. “For the last six years, I’ve been trying to get an answer as to where to go if there is a tornado, and I’ve gotten nowhere.” Jarvis said. He told the board that during the first year that he moved to Warren, there was a tornado watch in effect and he went to the high school to seek shelter. “There was nobody there and I didn’t know what to do,” Jarvis said. “I went to the police station and the dispatcher told me to go to a restaurant. Last year, I had asked Mr. Downing and he said that Warren doesn’t have any kind of system and that’s not what I want to hear living in a mobile home park.”
Selectmen Chairman David Delanski told Jarvis that the board is going to meet with the emergency management director very soon to put a plan into place. “We do have provisions set up already as far as the elementary school in West Warren and so forth. But, we are going to set it up so everyone will know what to do and where to go,” Delanski said. “We agree with you that it’s a problem, and we are going to fix it.”
Fire Chief James Dolan also expressed frustration with the lack of an emergency plan. “I feel we have done a disservice to the townspeople of Warren without proper notification,” Dolan said. “We were very lucky. However, I feel that the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) should have been activated as soon as the tornado watch went to a warning and at the very least on Thursday morning, to coordinate efforts to help our neighboring towns and to see what we could do.” Dolan said his department is still aiding the towns of Brimfield and Monson with manpower and has been since the afternoon of June 1. “I just felt that the ball was dropped and it shouldn’t have been. People were put at risk it shouldn’t have been that (way). I feel obligated to bring this up so it doesn’t happen again. Let’s find out what the problems are and correct them.”
Dolan said that the town has old fire sirens, the cable access channel and the reverse 911 that can be utilized to notify residents in the event of an emergency.
Delanski said that the emergency management director will be asked to come in as soon as possible.
Police Chief Bruce Spiewakowski said that he, along with Dolan are conducting immediate meetings to put a more precise plan into place. In the case of another emergency, residents are asked to call the police dispatcher and they will be given instructions as to where to go for shelter. “It will either be the elementary school on South Street or the high school. In that event, a member of the emergency management team will open up one of the schools, even if it’s only for one person.” More information will be put on the town’s website as it becomes available.
Spiewakowski has also created an e-mail notification list to keep residents informed of events or situations that may affect the entire town or just a specific section of town. Notifications can also be sent for upcoming or ongoing events, traffic detours and road construction, etc. He said there are currently 100 residents on the notification list and he would like to have more.
To be added to the list, residents are asked to e-mail their name and residential address with a request to be added to the list, to warrenchief1@verizon.net. This information is also listed on the town’s website at www.warren-ma.gov.
