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Crime & Safety

After Plow Hits Gas Line, La Grange Park Apartments Evacuated

But few traffic accidents, incidents reported in La Grange, La Grange Park during Wednesday's blizzard.

Residents of apartments in the 1200 block of Homestead Road in La Grange Park were temporarily relocated to the La Grange Park Village Hall, 447 N. Catherine Ave., when a private snow removal operator with a plow struck the building’s gas line and meter, in one of few incidents in La Grange or La Grange Park related to .

The La Grange Park Fire Department was on the scene and residents of the building were evacuated and transported to the Village Hall Board Room for their safety and comfort while repairs to the building gas line and meter were completed by Nicor, said Phillip Kubisztal, La Grange Park deputy police chief. Once that operation was completed, the residents were transported back to their building.

But, drivers pretty much kept off the roads in La Grange and La Grange Park during blizzard conditions Tuesday and Wednesday as very few traffic accidents or other incidents reported to the snowstorm were reported.

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Only two traffic accidents, with property damage but no injuries, were reported in La Grange from 12:30 a.m. Feb. 2 to 8:30 a.m. Feb. 3. No accidents were reported in La Grange Park. 

“With the advanced notice of the storm and the media attention given to it, many people heeded the weather service’s warnings and advice, and were not out driving unless absolutely necessary during the storm,” Kubisztal said. “As a result, our emergency procedures were minimal.”

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 The La Grange Police Department received 76 calls for service during that 32-hour period, according to Michael Holub, La Grange police chief.

They were six well-being checks; seven building checks; three ambulance calls, none for snow shoveling or snow-removal related; one vehicle lockout; one home lockout; two auto accidents; one call of a wire down; 12 motorist assists; and three fire calls. Of the latter, one was for an alarm malfunction, another for a carbon dioxide detector going off and one for snow clogging an exhaust vent.

Other miscellaneous calls were regarding suspicious activities, such as private plows pushing snow in to the street, or loud noise complaints which were the result of snow removal efforts (snow blowers).  During this  period, “we did not experience any significant crime, the one exemption being a domestic disturbance call on Feb. 2, that was unrelated to the storm,” Holub sad

The majority of activity in the dispatch center was fielding phone calls from citizens concerned about parking, snow removal, and commuter inquiries, he added.

Kubizstal said, “We actually made it through the storm in very good condition.  I have to say that the residents of La Grange Park were very well served by the village’s Public Works Department.”  Even if it was one to two hours before the last pass of a plow truck, by keeping their operations consistent all village streets remained passable, he added. 

The Emergency Communications Center received two calls of sparking wires during the storm, where a fire department response was made. The first reported at 8:37 p.m. in the 0-100 block of Elmwood.  The second was reported at 8:49 p.m.in the 1100 block of Kemman Avenue. Both incidents require no activity other than referral to ComEd, he said.

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