UPDATE (10:02 am): This story has been updated to reflect the correct date of the Parks & Rec truck fire.

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A major winter storm anticipated to cause significant snowfall lived up to expectations when it blew through Newtown on Sunday, January 25.

The winter storm brought with it snow, sleet, and freezing rain across much of the United States of America over the weekend, with its path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains all the way to New England, according to the National Weather Service.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said Newtown received between 14-16 inches of snow overall.

“Certain parts of town received more snow than others due to elevation, but generally speaking, we’re looking at 14-16 inches across town,” Hurley explained.

Nearby towns also received a lot of snow; Monroe received 13.7 inches, and Bethel received 15.7 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Hurley noted Newtown did not get the sleet or freezing rain at the end of the storm, which some Connecticut towns or cities faced along the coast.

As for whether the storm met expectations, Hurley said this is the first time since February 2013 that Newtown got this much snow in one day; Newtown received over three feet of snow in the February 2013 winter storm.

For the recent snowstorm, Hurley said they were well prepared by the time it came through town.

“Sunday morning it started around 5-6 am, and our guys were already coming in,” he said. “By 7 am, they started plowing around town.”

There were a total of 30 personnel between Public Works and Parks & Recreation who worked during the storm. Hurley said there were also some maintenance personnel the Board of Education had provide additional help.

Hurley said crews worked all day Sunday, all Monday morning, and into late Monday afternoon, when they were able to get the roads open.

“We were in pretty good shape by the end of the work day on Monday,” Hurley said.

As has been the case for past storms, Parks & Recreation personnel handled clearing schools, fire companies, Newtown Police Department, Edmond Town Hall, C.H. Booth Library, Newtown Community Center, and many of the Town’s walkways.

On Tuesday, January 27, Parks & Recreation Director Amy Mangold said they spent a lot of effort to clean up piled snow out of existing parking lots and to make sight lines safer around the Fairfield Hills campus.

She clarified that they do not get to the trail around campus until they have all the essential locations cleaned up.

“We don’t typically maintain it for winter use, but we take care of it if we have the extra time and manpower; we know it’s important to keep the community active and healthy and walking,” Mangold said.

She cautioned people to be extra careful if they do decide to use the paved trail, which is not treated the trail with any chemicals.

“Being short on equipment and employees has put a strain on the team to put in even additional overtime, but we’re getting up and getting it done,” Mangold said.

Public Works handled much of the heavy lifting on the main roads. The other main thing they do, Hurley said, is put contract loaders out to schools to move large piles of snow in those area’s parking lots. This way, school parking lots do not get choked out and difficult to enter.

They also work on maintaining fire lanes and keeping those areas cleared.

Hurley called Town personnel coming together to clear the snow a “team effort.”

“It’s almost like a ballet, where all the dancers have a different role to play,” Hurley said. “We all work together very well. It’s a system we’ve worked on for many years, so it’s pretty well organized.”

Road Conditions

Most of the calls Public Works received were regarding mailboxes, which Hurley said they expected. However, they also received several calls about sight lines, with large piles of snow blocking visibility at the corners of different intersections.

While Hurley said issues with sight lines will continue for the next several days, crews have been working all over town to improve sight lines and widen shoulders at intersections.

Hurley said they also contracted private loaders to assist in opening these sight lines.

“In some cases, you literally have to take the snow and move it some place else,” Hurley said. “Sometimes there’s just no place to put it in the intersection.”

This is also true, he said, with the Town’s intersections on State roads, such as Boggs Hill Road. Hurley said Boggs Hill Road had a “particularly awful” sight line issue on the west side of the road, to the point where drivers “almost had to pull out onto" Route 302/Sugar Street "to even get on 302.”

This, Hurley said, is indicative of the sight line issues some of these roads have been facing. That said, he hopes that they will be able to continue improving sight lines and conditions for drivers as soon as they are able.

Newtown Police Department Lieutenant Scott Smith said they only received reports of four motor vehicle accidents between Sunday and Monday. However, he said it is hard to say if they were related to the snowstorm or not.

Otherwise, Smith said Newtown Police Department assisted with at least nine cars that were stuck in snow.

They also handled seven vehicles that were parked in the roadway. Newtown Police Department had to contact the vehicles’ owners and have them get moved off the roadway so the Highway Department could plow the roads.

This was in addition to the typical calls for service that Newtown Police Department has to respond to.

Smith said it is likely due to the advanced notice of the storm.

“I think especially with so much notice with this storm and how much attention it got, I think most people just decided to wait it out and not bother going on the roads,” Smith said.

There was at least one crash, on Philo Curtis Road around 10 pm Sunday, when a vehicle crashed into a pole. Wires dropped onto the vehicle as a result of the crash. The wires were still live, so Eversource needed to de-energize the wires, essentially turning off power in the area because power was still live even after the crash, before first responders could get to the driver.

The driver was reportedly okay afterwards, but it did call on fire, police, and Eversource resources during the storm.

Parks & Recreation also had an unfortunate incident on Sunday night, when one of their trucks caught fire as it was being used for plowing. The driver was able to stop in front of Cochran House on the Fairfield Hills campus and get out unharmed.

Hook & Ladder responded to that call, but the truck is unfortunately a loss, according to Mangold. She called the vehicle one of their “newer, more reliable trucks.”

Mangold said they do not know exactly what caused the fire.

“Sometimes it can be the transmission line that can overheat, but we don’t know if that was the cause as of right now,” Mangold explained.

Let It Snow

Compared to the snowstorm on the weekend of January 17-18, Hurley said this snowstorm was not as costly to Newtown.

“When you have a real snowfall, you put materials out at the beginning and end of the storm. What we had last weekend was icing conditions ... so they had to apply and reapply and reapply material to add traction on the roads,” Hurley said.

Hurley said it is also why they use sand with salt to apply traction for these conditions. For ice and sleet, salt by itself does not do much to take the slipperiness away, but sand at least provides traction. Hurley said the Town uses a 50/50 mix of salt and sand, and they can adjust the mix as needed to extend the available quantity of the material.

The sand comes from and is hauled in by O&G Industries. The salt comes from Morton Salt and is hauled in from Gateway Terminal in New Haven.

Ultimately, Hurley said Newtown handled everything pretty well, all things considered.

“Other places in the country got more ice instead of snow, causing power outages. While we got more snow compared to other places, we could handle it in a lot more straightforward fashion since it was just snow,” Hurley said.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.