COLUMBUS, Ohio — If there is an emergency the first person people call are first responders. But with the winter storm on nearly everyone’s radar, first responders are faced with another challenge.
"If something bad does happen, to know that we have the same limitations as everybody,” said Steve Martin, the Battalion Chief for the Columbus Division of Fire.
He said crews are ready to respond to any call no matter how cold it may be.
"A great number of the house fires that we respond to throughout the year will happen in December, January and February, the winter months,” said Chief Martin.
The Columbus area is expected to get 3-5” inches of snow. Chief Martin said with the rainfall from Wednesday will create a problem on the roads.
"If that turns to ice that's going to be like trying to drive big trucks across skating rinks. Normal response times are going to be somewhat slowed down because of that,” said Chief Martin.
Further south in Ross County, they’re expecting between a quarter to a half-inch of ice.
"I can almost state for a fact that we will have power outages in Ross County,” said Ross County EMA Director Paul Minney.
Minney said a big concern is the ice weighing down and breaking electrical lines used for power.
"We will have to judge the area where we're going to, to see if there are power lines down and how we can get to those locations that we need to get to,” said Minney.
Minney said they will have help from other departments if needed.
Whether you're in Columbus or in Ross County or anywhere in between, the two say the safest place to be is inside.