BEREA, Ky. (LEX 18) — With less than a day until the Bluegrass experiences its first winter storm of the year, cities across the state are preparing for anything.
For the last several days, our LEX 18 weather and news teams have warned you about the impending snow and ice storm that will sweep across the state on Sunday.
While northern counties expect to see the worst of it, communities across the commonwealth are still getting ready for anything.
"My biggest tip for going out tomorrow is to not to. If you can stay home at all, try to do your stuff today, tonight get all of that stuff done and just stay at home," said Lieutenant Brent Billings with the Berea Fire Department. "These trucks, they are very heavy which helps with the ice but they do slide. We have some safety chains. Those have been greased and oiled today to prep for tomorrow so they are in proper working order."
Billings says they went into action as soon as the department got word of the storm.
"We've got a lot of personnel on standby for the storms tomorrow, where to go, what to do, and how to do that," explains Billings. "The second is our trucks and our equipment, we've been working diligently to get our trucks and all of our equipment prepped and ready to go for our storms coming up."
With tires pumped, batteries charged, and water tanks full, the fire department says the community shouldn't hesitate to call if they have a problem. "If you are experiencing an incident don't be hesitant to call us. The sooner you call us the sooner we can get in route and that will cut down on time. If you have an emergency, don't be afraid to call just because it's snowy or cold out. We'll still respond just like normal; we're here, and we want everyone to stay safe and healthy," says Billings.
If you lose power, Billings advises people to keep one room warm instead of the whole house and avoid setting the heat to 70 degrees.
"Don't use open flames inside. Use your kerosene heaters, your propane heaters periodically when you need to, off and on. Just keep your house warm enough to keep you alive and keep you safe," Billings also advises everyone make sure their carbon monoxide detector is working and in the same room as the heater.
