MOUNT VERNON — High winds wreaked havoc in Knox County Sunday afternoon as the remnants of Hurricane Ike whipped through central Ohio.

Downed power lines and trees blocked roads, started small fires, and tested the emergency resources in the county as fire departments and law enforcement agencies from across the county worked together.

Virtually every piece of fire apparatus in the county was utilized during the event, with off-duty personnel responding as well; mutual aid was provided by Delaware and Licking counties. Dispatchers at the county and city 9-1-1 centers kept track of dozens of scenes at once, while fire chiefs coordinated responses so that all emergencies were handled by priority.

As huge trees were taken down by the wind, some brought power lines with them as they crashed into homes and vehicles. Trees that had weathered decades of Knox County storms were brought down in a moment with gusts of 65 mph to 70 mph.

By five o’clock, calls from residents around the county about downed power lines were coming in by the minute.

Mount Vernon Fire Department Chief Shawn Christy said the situation became intense all at once.

“When the wind storm came through we quickly got overwhelmed by the amount of power lines down,” he said.

Knox County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Marie Blubaugh issued a statement Sunday night.

“Both city and county dispatchers were overwhelmed with 9-1-1 calls and regular land line calls, making it necessary to provide additional staffing during the wind storm,” the statement read in part.

According to Blubaugh, the National Weather Service told local officials the peak gusts in Knox County ranged from 65 mph to 70 mph.

Power lines brought down by the storm posed a fire danger throughout the area.

“Once they get sparking, the issues are those things catching trees on fire and catching houses on fire,” Christy said.

The chief said his department handled about 30 calls during the worst five hours of the storm.

“We actually ran out of vehicles,” said Christy. “At one point we had four or five calls at the same time.”

Christy said 17 MVFD personnel were working through the busiest dispatch time.

“9-1-1 did a great job,” Christy said. “They were overworked and stressed out. Thank God for them. I thought they did great.”

Christy added that firefighters brought pizzas to the dispatchers as a thank-you after the storm died down.

Knox County Sheriff David Barber said in a statement that additional manpower had been called in by his office to assist in removing debris from the roadways.

“City, county, townships and state road crews did an outstanding job of clearing the trees from the roadways,” he said.

Several roofs in the area sustained heavy damage. On Columbus Road, the metal roof of the Knox County Recycling Center was lifted off by wind gusts and lay twisted around the Knox County Animal Shelter.

In Centerburg, Fire Chief Joe Porter requested aid from the Hartford Volunteer Fire Department and the Fredericktown Fire Department to help handle the Central Ohio Joint Fire District’s large call volume during the worst of the storm.

A driver was injured on Ohio 314 around 4:30 p.m. when a tree fell on her vehicle. The woman was transported by the COJFD to Morrow County Hospital.

Fredericktown’s department handled 17 calls during the storm, including a grass fire and a propane and nitrogen leak at FT Precision.

“The overhead piping system that fed the building out of the tank field collapsed,” Fredericktown Fire Chief Scott Mast explained.

Mast said his department self-dispatched from its station during the worst of the storm in order to try and alleviate some of the pressure on the 9-1-1 system.

While emergency departments worked together during the emergency, Christy said he was disappointed with the lack of cooperation from the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Christy said workers in two ODOT vehicles refused to set up barricades on Ohio 229 after power lines and trees in the road caused a hazardous situation.

“We had some struggles on our state routes,” Christy said. “We were overtaxed quickly and all I was asking for was a couple of barricades.”

As the storm moved to the eastern part of the county, the EKCJFD firefighters and medics responded to calls from throughout their territory. According to Marcia Durbin, EMS coordinator for EKCJFD, one Apple Valley resident received minor injuries when debris from a tree hit her house, but she did not require transport to a hospital.

Bladensburg Acting Fire Chief Nick Cockrell said his department was out most of the night cutting trees that were blocking the road, and dealing with power lines felled by the storm. “A lot of people just came to the firehouse instead of calling,” Cockrell said.

At 10:15 p.m., dispatchers announced over the city and county fire channels that the National Weather Service had cancelled the severe wind warning for the county.

The fire chiefs said their personnel did a great job of handling the high call volume, and prioritizing where they were needed.

“I thought my guys handled it really well,” Christy said after the storm. “I thought they all performed exceptional while our department handled an overwhelming amount of calls.”

Mast said things ran smoothly for his department, which stood by as a mutual aid agency for Mount Vernon and the COJFD.

College and Monroe Township fire departments had 18 firefighters in station and responded to over a dozen calls on Sunday, said Capt. Andrew Weber.

Schools in the county were closed today because of power outages and blocked roads.