Fire Department Worried Closed Road Is Affecting Response Time

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SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - It has been six months since a flood wiped out Lowber Road in Sewickley Township.

Residents are frustrated and firefighters are concerned about how the closed road has affected their response time.

Not only is the road closure affecting traffic for their big fish fry Friday night, that is not their main concern.

For six months barricades have blocked Lowber Road. There is not much left of this portion of the road after heavy rains washed it away last September.

"It's added an extra eight to nine minutes on our time for response," said Lowber Fire Department Chief Matt Geis.

It has been a nightmare for the fire department, which is located less than a mile away from the closure.

Fortunately, there have not been any major fires recently, but many have waited a long time for an ambulance.

"We had two ambulance assist calls in the area which took us a little extended time to get there," said Geis. "We had one lady who had a diabetic emergency, then we had someone who slipped and fell."

That's bad enough, but the firefighters say they think they're getting the run around on when the road might open.

"They promised one day and then they moved it to another day. They told us March 14 it was going to be open. They guaranteed it, well, it's already the fifteenth and you can see what it looks like now."

The road does not seem to be opening anytime soon.

A PennDOT spokesperson told KDKA Friday that if they could wave a magic wand and fix it, they would.