Mansfield Fire Crew Responds to Monson, MA in Tornado Aftermath

A Mansfield fire crew was dispatched to Massachusetts Wednesday evening to bolster New England's response to the series of tornadic activity and severe weather that affected the state Wednesday.

According to , the department was called in as part of a county-wide mutual aid system to assist in rescue and response efforts.

Dagon said that a heavy rescue truck with a crew of six firefighters reported to a staging area in Stafford around midnight for deployment to Monson, MA, but were returned to Mansfield shortly after their arrival.

“The vehicle that we dispatched had lighting capability … and hydrolic tools that would have allowed us to extricate people if that was necessary, so that’s what we prepared to do,” Dagon said. “But we never actually got into Monson or the areas that were affected. They no longer needed our resources.”

The Huffington Post reports that at least three people have been killed, and around 200 people have sought medical attention for storm-related injuries.

As of Thursday evening, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick had maintained a State of Emergency for the four counties that were most severely impacted by the storms: Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester.

Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties are no longer covered by the State of Emergency, according to Patrick’s Web page at Mass.gov.

The Huffington Post reports that 2011 has already been the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950. There were more than 600 confirmed tornadoes in April alone.