Janet Gary: Calling the non-emergency number works

At 4:30 in the morning, my husband was drinking his first cup of coffee, yes, really that early. He heard a sound that wasn’t part of the normal din of an old house. So he went down to the basement to investigate. He found water spraying all over from the outside water service line. It had a hole ahead of the shutoff valve, so there was nothing he could do except seek help.

It was certainly an emergency, but not a fire or a critical medical issue, so he called Northampton’s non-emergency number.

The dispatcher who answered alerted the Northampton Fire Department. They came to our house. Once they examined the situation, they alerted the Department of Public Works who had to come and shut the water off from the road. Two pleasant, competent and hardworking DPW staff arrived way before their work day should have started. Finding our shutoff valve next to the street was no easy task, but these employees identified the problem and were able to stop our basement from flooding.

Did I mention that every responder entered our basement after we alerted them that there was probably a skunk hiding in the shadows? Ends up there were two. But the point is I couldn’t have been more impressed and thankful for our firefighters and our DPW employees. The protocol of calling the non-emergency number, and then letting dispatch alert who we needed help from was seamless and the response was immediate.

Janet Gary

Ward 3 resident, Northampton