Crime & Safety

WIFD Assists With Flooding Relief Efforts Upstate

Four firefighters, an ambulance and fire rescue vehicle made a four day trip to relieve local departments in Binghamton, Owego.

, along with 15 other departments from around Suffolk County, have been assisting with flooding relief efforts in upstate New York as a result of Hurricane Irene.

Joe Williams, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue & Emergency Services (DFRES), said that New York is acting on a statewide mutual aid plan to bring relief aid to Binghamton and Owego.

"What they’re doing to supplement the response with the local departments, they’re also providing services as far as pumping water out of homes, running ambulance calls, basically just helping those local departments who've been going through this flooding the past two weeks," Williams said.

Find out what's happening in West Islipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to Williams, Binghamton and Owego are both still experiencing serious flooding as a result of .  He also said the efforts from Suffolk departments have been voluntary and "will not affect their EMS and fire fighting abilities."

Find out what's happening in West Islipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

West Islip was able to send a fire rescue vehicle (which went from Saturday to Wednesday) and an ambulance (which is scheduled to return today).  A total of four WI firefighters made the trip, according to a WIFD dispatcher.  

"They’re basically relieving local fire departments so they can take care of their own homes and so they can take a break since they’ve been going for two weeks straight."

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