KINGSTON – Ulster County first responders that worked tirelessly when a February ice storm crippled the county have been recognized by Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan.
“It was probably a storm I haven’t seen in my 30 years in the fire service,” said Mike Sasso, chief of the Glasco Fire Company. “It was taxing, to say the least on our members.”
The small fire company handled 77 calls in 36 hours as other fire departments in the county scrambled to help people, and power and tree line crews worked to get the electricity on, clear debris, and perform other tasks so life could get back to normal.
“For a department our size it was quite extensive. The [calls} were coming in two, three, four at a time,” said Sasso.” There wasn’t much property loss and no loss of life.”
On this past Friday, at the Andy Murphy Midtown Neighborhood Center, first responders, police, fire, and EMS personnel were honored for their dedication on the first weekend in February.
“I just think it’s so important to stop and take a moment and recognize what happened and thank people,” said Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan. “You’re humble, and you don’t want to be recognized sometimes. And I think it’s even more important in those cases.”
