We have been investigating reports that some Verizon Wireless customers are receiving text messages from Sovereign Bank asking them to call a supplied phone number. The intent behind these text messages is to prompt Sovereign customers into calling and revealing their account information. These messages are fraudulent and do not originate from Sovereign Bank. Please delete them.
Halloween Storm Response
Last week was a very long week for residents, public safety, town government and National Grid. The timing of this storm was unfortunate. Since many hardwood trees were still retaining their leaves, the wet snow added a tremendous amount of weight to the branches. For many trees in town it was too much to bear and many split and fell. As they fell they took wires and utility poles down with them. The end result was a widespread power outage affecting over 80% of National Grid’s Billerica customers. This power outage was so widespread that National Grid needed to mobilize hundreds of line crews from out of state to restore power. In many cases this restoration process took many days.
During this outage BPD used CodeRED to call as many residents as possible. We also kept our website updated with information as well as Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately, many people had no access to the internet or landlines during this incident due to the loss of electricity. Those residents that had previously registered their cell phones with CodeRED were able to receive updates. During this incident we had 334 new CodeRED registrations which were approved immediately. There were many residents that stayed connected through smartphones, their neighbors, local businesses and town facilities. Even though communication was successful on many levels we do need to remind residents that CodeRED is a voluntary system and if you fail to register your number(s) you may not receive critical information during emergencies. We do not add phone numbers to CodeRED automatically. Please take the time to register your phone numbers.
During the time between October 29th and November 3rd the BPD communication center answered 365 911 calls and another 5503 business line calls. Although the call volume was extreme, telecommunicators successfully handled them all. The Police Department handled 612 calls for service during the same time period.
Billerica Police would like to thank all Billerica residents for their patience. Also, Emergency Management and the Billerica Council on Aging for their support in opening and manning the warming center at the Billerica Senior Center.
We would like to encourage all Billerica residents to learn more about disaster preparedness by visiting Ready.gov.
Two Arrested For Break To VIP Auto Center
This morning Billerica Police were called regarding a commercial break that occurred overnight at VIP Auto Center located at 200 Boston Rd. Officers arrived to find that one of the receiving doors had been forced open. The safe in the business was entered and cash was stolen.
Detectives Sgt Roy Frost and Rick Nestor conducted an investigation. Shortly after following up a lead supplied by a witness two men were arrested for the break and the stolen cash was recovered.
Christopher Berry, 21, of 219 Shoreline Dr. Tewksbury; Breaking and entering for felony, larceny for felony
Eric Summerlin, 17, of 8 Sumner Rd. Billerica; Breaking and entering for felony, larceny for felony
BPD’s Bloodhound Diesel Has Passed Away
Some bad news came in today regarding Diesel, our Bloodhound. It was discovered that Diesel had a serious illness that resulted in his untimely death. BPD has been one of the few police departments in the area that utilizes a Bloodhound as part of the patrol force. We will have more on Diesel once the storm recovery is behind us.
Storm Update
11/4/11 9:00PM – At this time power has been restored to the whole town. It is possible that a few isolated homes may still be without power and require special attention. If your home is still out of power or you know of someone without power it is vitally important you immediately call National Grid at 800-322-3223 to report the outage.
Now that everyone has power and the weekend to recover make it a priority to get those home and cell phone numbers registered with our CodeRED system.
11/3/11 3:30PM – National Grid is reporting the last of the main power feeders will be restored some time tonight. 10 line crews are remaining in town to finish these remaining areas. We expect many of the areas below to be restored shortly. This list is NOT all inclusive but we are attempting to provide as much information as possible
These are the areas we know are being worked on:
- Eagle Trace
- Earl
- Farmers
- Forest
- Grandview
- Greenleaf
- heritage
- Homestead
- Juniper
- Kingsbury
- Lincoln
- Luce
- Marshbrook
- Skyline
- Violet
And others…
When these areas are brought back we still may have individual homes and pockets that remain off line. Please report these to National Grid at 800-322-3223 and have your account number available if possible.
As a reminder Trick or Treating is scheduled for tomorrow and we are asking that parents take extra precautions with their children to ensure they do not go near any dangerous wires, limbs or trees that may have gone unnoticed. Please be careful!
The warming center at the Senior Center has been closed.
11/2/11 4:00PM -As of right now 17% of the town is still without power. National Grid line crews are currently working to restore the remaining areas without power. We do anticipate additional areas to be brought back on line through the night. 12 line crews will be operating all night tonight. National Grid remains confident that the vast majority of remaining outages will be addressed by tomorrow, if not tonight.
Please continue to call 800-322-3223 to report outages and downed wires to National Grid. In addition, it is very helpful to have your National Grid account number available when calling.
Billerica Public Schools has announced that schools will be open tomorrow.
We may have some additional information later this evening. If we do it will be posted to the Billerica Police website and Twitter and Facebook pages.
11/1/11 5:00PM – As was noted earlier more than 50% of the town now has power. National Grid has informed us that there are now 20 line crews working throughout the town making repairs. Many of those crews will be working through the night to restore power.
The town still has a few priority locations that need to be addressed immediately, this includes the Marshall, Vining and Kennedy Schools which remain in the dark. In addition to those three schools there are numerous wastewater pumping stations that have been running on generator since the storm hit on Saturday. Those areas are National Grids top priority at this time.
All roads in town are now open.
The Billerica School Department has cancelled classes for Wednesday, November 2nd. We are anticipating that schools will be open on Thursday.
The senior center at 25 Concord Rd will be open for at least one more night for those that require shelter.
A drop-off location for residential snow-storm-related tree debris (branches and leaves) has been set up next to the Billerica Highway Division at 250 Boston Road. Residents can drop off loose branches and leaves between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, until Nov. 19. No bags will be accepted.
National Grid does request that residents continue to report fallen wires and outages to their customer service number at 800-322-3223 .
11/1/11 2:00PM – Today at noon town management and public safety met with National grid. During the last 24 hours line crews have repaired four main feeder lines, restoring power to over 6000 Billerica customers. Over 50% of the town has been restored. Crews are now focusing on three additional main feeder lines with the potential to restore an additional 3700 customers. Please be aware that individual, localized damage off of these means feeders means that some customers may not be restored once these feeders are brought back online. Major work is also being done on Andover Rd near the Fox Hill Cemetery as the power lines in that area were severely damaged. National Grid anticipates significant progress over the next 24 hours. The official estimate to have the majority of Billerica customers restored remains November 3rd. At this time Billerica has a total of 10 line crews and numerous tree crews working around the clock.
Billerica Public Safety, including Emergency Management will continue to assist residents as issues arise. We will continue to update residents using CodeRED, Twitter, Facebook and our public website. Please keep your neighbors informed if they do not have the means to receive these messages.
10/31/11 2:20PM – – Town management has met directly with National Grid and recovery work is continuing to take place. At this time there are seven National Grid line crews in Billerica. In addition to those seven crews, five more from out of state are scheduled to arrive at any time. National grid also has one tree crew in Billerica. That tree crew is now being augmented by the Billerica Tree Department.
Residents should be aware that the line crews are focusing on four main feeder lines which they anticipate repairing today. These crews will not be in neighborhoods working until those 4 feeder lines are repaired. Once those feeders are repaired National Grid anticipates a substantial recovery over the next 24 to 36 hours.
The town is currently maintaining a warming center at the Billerica Senior Center located at 25 Concord Rd. The town library is open from 9am until 9pm. Although the library has power there is currently no internet connectivity at this time.
River St and Pollard St have been opened and we anticipate Allen Rd and Andover Rd being opened by 3pm today.
As a reminder there will be no Halloween trick or treat tonight. We have postponed trick or treat to Friday between 530pm and 730pm.
During this event public safety and town management have been inundated with phone calls. While we understand the nature of frustration associated with this power outage we ask that residents refrain from calling unless they have an actual emergency or an issue of an urgent nature. We will continue to inform residents through CodeRED as needed as well as providing updates on our website at billericapolice.org and Twitter at BillericaPD.
10/31/11 10:30AM – Primary issue is a major transmission line down affecting Billerica, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, and Dracut. Main line is supposed to be up around noon time. Next there are 10 sub lines to be fixed in the area. Then there are 61 feeder lines to be fixed, then individual houses to be addressed. 25 crews are coming to the area from the North Shore, 40 tree crews, and 43 out of state crews.
10/30/11 2:30PM – At this time 70% of the town is still without power. National Grid estimates that it could take 48 or more hours to restore power. The Billerica School Department has cancelled classes for tomorrow, October 31st. A warming center will be available tonight at the Billerica Senior Center at 25 Concord Rd for the elderly and those families with special needs. There are many road closures still in effect and many traffic lights are not operational so please leave extra time to travel and be cautious of your surroundings. The Police Department will continue to update residents on the recovery through the Police website at http://www.billericapolice.org and Twitter at BillericaPD. For those with no internet access we will pass significant updates through CodeRED if necessary.
Liquor Stings
The Billerica Police Department will be conducting liquor stings, which involve liquor compliance checks starting now throughout the year. These stings will be conducted at all liquor establishments, including package stores, restaurants and variety stores. These compliance checks are part of the duties of the department’s liquor control officer and will be done on a continuous basis throughout the holiday season.
Preventing underage drinking is everyone’s responsibility. Compliance checks reassure youths do not have easy access to alcohol and that people over 21 years of age are not buying alcohol for underage youths, including employees and liquor license holders. Such activities and frequent oversight of alcohol retailers increases compliance.