South County Fire reports that it saw a 25 percent increase in 911 calls over five days during the recent winter storm.
The department operates 14 neighborhood fire stations to serve more than 250,000 residents in Brier, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and unincorporated south Snohomish County.
South County Fire’s busiest day was Feb. 12 when firefighters responded to 150 calls, an increase of 74 percent over the department’s daily average of 86 calls.
“The first few days weren’t as busy as people heeded warnings to stay inside and stay off the road,” Assistant Fire Chief Doug Dahl said.
“On Feb. 12, we had heavy snow fall on top of the snow that had already accumulated. That’s when we started to see trees and power lines come down.”