Yesterday was a busy afternoon for the Bedford Fire Department and all the surrounding departments. This is why we have 3 fire districts working together in the Town of Bedford:

Just before noon, we had an EMS call in Bedford Village that would require our first-due ambulance to transport a resident to Stamford Hospital. Then, at 12:31 an engine was called to respond mutual aid to Katonah for a gas emergency on Katonah Avenue, along with most of the other neighboring departments of Katonah. Then, at 12:54, while both of those calls were still in progress, we had another EMS call, also mutual aid, this time to Bedford Hills. The Katonah Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps was still working the gas emergency on Katonah Avenue, so our second-due ambulance headed to Bedford Hills.

On escalating events or when there are multiple calls at the same time, the mutual aid plans between the districts automatically kick in. These plans are reviewed each year by the chiefs of all the departments and agreed upon, then pre-loaded into the county dispatch system. In the winter especially, when there tend to be more building fires, there are many emergencies that require the apparatus and personnel of more than one department.