After two days of bright, beautiful weather, Montreal emergency services say they\u2019re bracing for impact in anticipation for a plot twist in the weather. <\/p>\n
As freezing rain moves into the region, first responders across the city warn that the storm could bring a spike in calls over the coming days. They\u2019re advising residents to stay safe in order to ensure services don\u2019t get overwhelmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re expecting a significant increase in the calls, specifically for those branches falling on wires, either creating sparks, creating fires,\u201d said Chris Ross, president of the Montreal Firefighters Association.<\/p>\n
Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec told CityNews that crews are already on standby across the province.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re making sure that we\u2019re having all the crews ready to hit the ground as soon as they\u2019re needed,\u201d said Cendrix Bouchard, spokesperson for Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec. \u201cThat means 550 crews, 1,100 people throughout the province.\u201d<\/p>\n
The utility said preparations made since the major ice storm in 2023 could help reduce the impact of outages this time around.<\/p>\n
Last year, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec said it spent about $150 million trimming trees near power lines, cutting tens of thousands of branches and trees to reduce the risk of damage during storms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe actually cut some branches and trees, tens of thousands in the last year,\u201d Bouchard said.<\/p>\n
Bouchard encouraged residents to download the Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec mobile app, which provides updates on outages and estimated restoration times.<\/p>\n
Emergency responders are also reminding Montrealers to be cautious in the event of a blackout. <\/p>\n
Firefighters warn that attempts to stay warm or cook using open flames indoors can quickly become dangerous.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything that\u2019s an open flame is a possibility of something that will start a fire. It\u2019s also a possibility of something that will generate carbon monoxide,\u201d Ross said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have a carbon monoxide detector in your house, you should.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paramedics also say they often see a rise in carbon monoxide exposure during power outages, especially when people improvise when trying to keep warm. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe tend to see frequently is when there\u2019s no power, people try and get creative with ways to cook food or stay warm,\u201d said Vanessa Grillo, chief of operations at Urgences-sant\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we end up getting an influx of calls for carbon monoxide exposure or carbon monoxide poisoning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Urgences-sant\u00e9 is also warning icy conditions can lead to more slips and falls, which could slow response times as paramedics navigate slippery streets and entrances.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see fractured hips and lower body injuries. Even when people try and break their fall, wrist injuries and things like that,\u201d Grillo said.<\/p>\n
Officials say those experiencing non-life-threatening injuries should consider calling 811, where nurses can provide advice and help direct people to appropriate resources. <\/p>\n
Authorities are also urging residents to limit unnecessary travel, take extra care on sidewalks and stairs and make sure entrances are clear and safe.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re also encouraging people to check in on vulnerable neighbours and loved ones. <\/p>\n
\u201cMake sure they have everything they need \u2014 their medications, enough food to last them a couple of days,\u201d Grillo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two days of bright, beautiful weather, Montreal emergency services say they\u2019re bracing for impact in anticipation for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-529780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}