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FREDONIA -- On April 8, the sun will be blotted out of the sky by darkness. Fredonia Fire Chief Joshua Myers wants to be ready, starting a Fredonia/Pomfret solar eclipse committee.
Local first responders like Myers expect a surge of out-of-towners traveling to Chautauqua County so they can get into the "path of totality," where the sun is entirely covered. The path essentially hugs the Lake Erie shoreline from Cleveland to Buffalo, then heads towards Rochester and the North Country.
"It's going to be a sizable event, in my opinion. It's going to bring a lot of people to our area," Myers said.
To prepare for that in Fredonia and Pomfret, he has put together a planning committee. It includes Fredonia Police Chief David Price, SUNY Fredonia Police Chief Gordon Carpenter and campus emergency management coordinator Charles Holder, Fredonia Department of Public Works Director Scott Marsh, a Pomfret Town Board member, Fredonia Mayor Douglas Essek, Fredonia Trustee Michelle Twichell, Fredonia Treasurer Erlyssa LeBeau, code enforcers from both Fredonia and Pomfret, and emergency management staff from Brooks Memorial Hospital. The group could grow or shrink depending on how the first meeting goes, Myers said.
"We're really getting everyone into a room and see what different things we are going to encounter," he said. The point of the group is to plan for the event and see what things can be done ahead of time, he added.
The panel's first meeting is Oct. 4 at the Fredonia Fire Department firehouse. Myers envisions four or five meetings, about once every two months until the eclipse happens in April.
The eclipse is "important from the emergency management seat I sit in," Myers said. He explained that a major concern is overload of cell phone towers, from all the calling and texting expected during the eclipse.
Another possibility is that it "could be a parking lot on major roads," the fire chief continued.
The combination of a surge of visitors and people pulling over to watch the show could prove very bad for traffic flow.
"A lot of (first responders) will be busy with their own municipalities," Myers said. "Mutual aid agreements will be strained. The better prepared we are, the better off we'll be."
He even suggested getting groceries from stores a week ahead of time, as if a winter storm is coming. That's because the influx of eclipse gazers needs supplies and could slam area stores close to the big day.
Also, April 8 may be a bad time to have an emergency: Myers said he wouldn't be surprised if some scared, confused people who didn't know the eclipse was coming tie up 911.