Firefighters rescue motorists
Staff writer
By the time Kansas Department of Transportation closed state highways Sunday, a team of seven volunteers from the Lincolnville and Lost Springs fire districts had assisted five different vehicles stranded on US-56/77.
“We were lucky,” Lincolnvvile chief Les Kaiser said. “We had no medical or fire runs. However, we did go out on several motorist assists, trying to get them unstuck, get them around the roadways and either get them down the road, or get them to shelter.”
Kaiser’s fire crew was contacted by a dispatcher after sheriff’s deputies reported that they were unable to get to US-56/77 because to road conditions.
“They must have called 911,” he said. “I was notified by emergency management and asked if we’d be able to assist.”
A fire crew drove back and forth from Lincolnville to the county line helping stranded vehicles.
Firefighters were able to get three of five vehicles unstuck, and occupants opted to continue on their way. The other two cars were brought back to Lincolnville.
A woman in one of the cars brought to Lincolnville called her boyfriend, who drove from El Dorado to pick her up.
As of Tuesday, her car remained in Lincolnville, though she was expected to come get it soon.
The other car taken to Lincolnville contained a woman and her nephew who had been driving to Chicago before getting stuck in the snowstorm.
They were taken to the Lincolnville Community Center, which was outfitted as a warming shelter for the occasion.
“We could have put more in there if we needed to,” Kaiser said.
They stayed in the shelter for two hours before deciding to drive to Herington and stay in a hotel for the night.
“Most everybody that we dealt with yesterday was from out of the area,” Kaiser said.
KDOT officially closed the state’s highways around 3 p.m. Sunday. Kaiser’s team began responding to calls just before noon.
“When they closed the highway down, that finally helped stem the flow of traffic,” he said. “We had everything cleared, people off the road, everything back in the station by 5 p.m.”
Kaiser noted just how bad the conditions were on the road and the danger it posed for drivers.
“At one point, it was snowing, and we had zero visibility,” he said. “We’re working on a vehicle, and we had a semi and five cars blow by us.”
Kaiser said his crew was unfazed by the risk.
“To our guys, it’s just another day,” he said. “We do this so we can help people.”