No large power outages or emergency responses as ‘unbelievable’ storm rocks Middleboro

MIDDLEBORO — As an unprecedented blizzard continues to hammer Middleboro, residents are asked to stay indoors while emergency services and plow crews experience their own difficulties.

Middleboro Fire Chief Owen Thompson said with high wind gusts and snow falling at a “fairly tremendous” rate, fire department and public works crews have been getting stuck on roads throughout town on Monday.

Governor Maura Healey announced a ban on civilian vehicle travel Monday. The ban includes Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable counties and is effective immediately. The ban will continue “until further notice,” according to the governor’s office.  

“The duration and intensity of the storm has been nothing like I have ever been witness to before,” Thompson said.

He said there have been scattered road closures across Middleboro, but no major closures on main roadways. Thompson said the best thing residents can do to stay safe is one thing — stay indoors.

“We'd like residents to stay off the roads as we try to start to hopefully have the storm wind down and start a cleanup of it,” Thompson said.

After an afternoon emergency meeting with town departments, Thompson said Middleboro Gas and Electric has only reported 79 outages as of Monday afternoon, an “extremely small number” compared to a majority of towns that surround Middleboro.

Thompson said there have been very few vehicle accidents — as most residents are heeding to calls to stay off of roads — but there have been a number of reports of vehicles stuck in the snow.

He said about six fire and EMS vehicles became stuck on roadways, and another dozen plow trucks have also gotten stuck in the dangerously slippery road conditions in town.

“The amount of snow that has come down in about the last 12 hours — is unbelievable,” Thompson said.

He said at around 3 a.m., light and fluffy snow fell at slow rates, but by 6 a.m. conditions became dangerous in town.

“The rates picked up from a gentle half inch an hour to a three-to-four-inch per hour rate, and the winds picked up — creating near zero visibility,” Thompson said.

Thompson said the department usually responds to every scene with a fire engine, but they have changed their strategy as blizzard conditions are expected to continue until midnight.

Under concerns for their prolonged response times, the department has been using four-wheel-drive forestry vehicles to respond to emergencies. Although Thompson said the smaller, more nimble vehicles can’t carry all of their emergency equipment — it’s critical first responders keep their response times low.

Thompson said he expects high winds and snow fall to cease around midnight on Monday, but roads on Tuesday morning will remain dangerous. The department asks residents to remain off of roadways on Tuesday.

In addition, Thompson said residents need to be cautious during recreation in the coming days. Layering up properly and covering bare-skin will be important as Tuesday temperatures are expected to hover in the 20s. 

Ponds, lakes and rivers are extremely dangerous to walk on, and residents are asked to stay off of iced-over bodies of water.

For residents to safely use space heaters, Thompson said the heaters should only be run while people are awake, the heaters must be plugged directly into a wall outlet and only heaters that have “UL” certification or similar approval should be used.