FM generator responds to recent tornadoes

Almost as soon as the tornadoes touched down earlier this month in western Massachusetts, crews from FM Generator in Canton were heading into the stricken areas to deliver and operate generators at key government, telecommunications and business locations.

FM president Mike Molway said his company mobilized crews and equipment from company locations in Canton, West Springfield and Hooksett, NH, while the storm raged its way east.

“As the storm line was moving east, our people were driving west right through it,” Molway said.

FM delivered some 15 generators to Springfield, Westfield and other communities, in addition to the 80 FM generators already in place at government and business sites in the impacted areas.

The generators were used to provide power to local and state police and emergency responder locations; Massachusetts Department of Youth Services facilities and other state agency sites; Verizon telecommunications towers; and other business locations where power was disrupted.

“These are sites that are essential to public safety and to the proper operation of communications for state and private work crews throughout the region,” Molway explained.

More than 20 FM employees worked around the clock to maintain the portable power sources. The crews left on Monday, June 6, after power was restored throughout the affected areas.

“The devastation was incredible,” Molway said. “It’s a difficult enough task for responders to help the victims without the added burden of power outages. We’ll stay in place until normal power is restored everywhere.”

FM has a long history of providing power to sites hit by disasters, both natural and man-made. The day after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Molway and other FM personnel crawled through tiny spaces in a key communications center on Wall Street to restore power to the New York Stock Exchange.

“We were told point-blank that the power had to be restored, period,” Molway recalled. “It wasn’t just for business purposes. It was for the symbolism of getting New York and America back up and running after the attacks.”

Submitted by FM Generator

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jun 15 2011. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.