Point Boro Thanks Hurricane Irene First Responders and Others

Point Borough's emergency responders took on crashing tree limbs, flooding, power outages, evacuations and more during and after Hurricane Irene.

And on Tuesday night, Mayor William Schroeder and the Borough Council thanked them, the school district and two local businesses with certificates and handshakes.

Schroeder, in the first of a series of presentations, thanked the police department, with Sgt. David Radsniak and Officer David Scalabrini accepting the certificates on behalf of the department.

Councilman Robert Sabosik noted that after some local homes were evacuated, none of them were burglarized and credited the police department for that.

Schroeder also gave a certificate to the borough volunteer fire department. Fire Chief Daniel Mulligan and two of the firefighters, Tom Adams and his son, Ray Adams, accepted the presentation.

Mulligan told those gathered that he was proud of the entire volunteer department.

"I'm the one who gets to stand up here and get the award, but these guys did all the work," said Mulligan.

Mulligan said the department got about 50 calls during the hurricane and had two trucks on the road responding to calls non-stop.

"We had wires down and trees into homes," he said. "There was no downtime. The guys did an amazing job."

Later, he said the department had a truck manned with a firefighter with a chainsaw as the first in line to respond to calls. He said that firefighter often had to cut a path into a scene, with flooding or trees down, so the department could respond.

"The truck with the chainsaw led the way," he said.

"We also had to create makeshift sleeping quarters," he said. "The first night, everyone was there for the duration.

"I also really want to thank the people of Point Pleasant too," he said during the meeting. "We had so many calls that we couldn't spend as much time as we wanted to at each of the homes. But people were really wonderful and understanding."

Schroeder also had a certificate for the Point Borough First Aid Squad, led by President Steven Schwarz. Schwarz was not at the meeting, so the certificate was accepted by Councilman Mitch Remig, a squad member, on his behalf.

Schroeder also had certificates for U.S. Subs, which supplied food to the borough shelter at the high school, and to Richard's Rentals, which are both located on Route 88.

Police Chief Larry Wiliams said after the meeting that Richard's Rentals had supplied about a dozen cots to the shelter where about 20 to 25 people had temporarily sought refuge from the storm. He said Meridian Health, which operates Ocean Medical Center in Brick, had also supplied cots.

Williams said first aid squad members and their families cooked and also supplied food to those staying at the shelter.

Schroeder also gave a certificate and thank you to Schools Superintendent Vincent Smith for the district's assistance and cooperation during and after the hurricane.

Schroeder thanked all the emergency responders on the borough's emergency management team for meeting the Friday night before Irene hit the area, coming up with a plan and sticking to it during and after Irene.

"It's a proud moment," he said.

At the last council meeting, two weeks ago, council members also thanked emergency responders for their swift, efficient work and residents for helping each other.