October Storm Was One to Remember in Westwood

It's no secret that the that hit over the weekend was somewhat historic in its timing. 

With thousands of power outages hitting Westwood and officials due to the damage, it was surely a storm residents won't soon forget.

But it was also an event Deputy Fire Chief Mike Reardon isn't ready to forget either. 

"I don't remember it being so dark early in the evening," said Reardon, who worked throughout the weekend responding to storm-related issues. "This was pretty incredible. At 4:30 a.m., it was absolute white-out conditions. It was incredible."

In addition to a number of falling tree limbs, downed wires, working with NSTAR crews and holding meetings with Westwood officials, one building on the Dover side of Hale Reservation caught fire during the storm. 

But residents who responded to the town's emergency shelter also shed light on which neighborhoods were without power, Reardon said, and as such public safety officials and Department of Public Works crews were able to respond accordingly. 

"One reason they cancelled Halloween, there were too many downed wires," he said. "Too man branches hanging. On Glandore Road, there was an enormous limb hanging by a thread from a power line."

Parker Harrington, a Stanford Drive resident, also saw the affects of the storm first hand. In what he called an "ironic twist of fate," hours after bringing Westwood Fire officials a donated dinner from Texas Roadhouse in Walpole, he found himself on the sidewalk outside his home while fire engines responded to a smoke situation at the residence. 

Harrington said the incident occurred shortly after power was restored at the home.

"Sometime when that happened, everything in the house got really bright, and we heard a lot of crackling and popping," Harrington said. "There wasn't any serious damage," he added, though a number of appliances, such as a computer, were destroyed. 

While the cause of the incident wasn't immediately clear, Reardon said it could have been caused by faulty wiring. 

"It sounds like one of the wires may have been loose,"  Reardon said. "I can't say for sure."

Only 36 residents were still without power as of noontime Wednesday, according to reports.