Carbon County Commissioners thanked first responders and dispatchers for their hard work immediately following the storm that rolled through the area Wednesday evening, leaving power outages and downed trees in its wake.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said that the 911 communications center was staffed with six dispatchers after the storm and noted that in a three-hour period, the group answered a total of 401 calls for wires down, fallen trees, power outages.

“This past week has been an extremely busy week for emergency services,” Nothstein said, citing working fires and other responses that required emergency services.

He also thanked the public for their response to the recent fire in Lehighton. Many residents and businesses provided water, Gatorade and food for responders, who were battling the fire in 90-plus degree heat.

“It was overwhelming how many people who brought things out for the firefighters,” Nothstein said. “ ... I can’t say enough about the response by the public and the businesses. Thank you.”