D.C. Fire and EMS have responded to 250 calls since midnight, according to spokesperson Pete Piringer. “The calls that we’ve had are taking us longer for obvious reasons,” he tells City Desk. “We’ve had a few collapses, a few babies. I don’t know if it’s the barometric pressure or what.”

There have been six calls for mothers in labor, Piringer says.

Yesterday evening, firefighters and paramedics had to deliver a baby in Shaw. “Mom and baby are fine,” Piringer adds.

Piringer says the fire department and paramedics are well prepared for storms like this. During this past Saturday’s snowstorm, personnel doubled, and additional equipment and trucks were utilized.  “We didn’t miss any calls,” Piringer says.

Today, the department has also gotten an assist from the National Guard.

An additional 150 firefighters and paramedics are working today. The National Guard, Piringer says, is pitching in. Six Humvees from the National Guard are assisting on radio runs.

“The calls that we do take are taking longer,” Piringer adds. “We are having to park the apparatus and walk. Even when we get to the house, we have to work to get them out of the house.”