By Heather Clower
The Parsons Advocate
When most people were waking up on Friday morning, the temperatures were warmer than they had been in days prior with just a light rain. Buses were on their way to pick up their early students when suddenly the temperatures dropped and ice began to form.
“The transportation director and I monitor the radar for impending weather throughout the night,” stated Alicia Lambert, Superintendent for Tucker County Schools. “At the time when a decision has to be made about a delay or cancellation, approximately 4:30 a.m., the weather was clear with an indication that some freezing rain would hit our area around 8 a.m. and could last until 11 a.m. A delay would have put our buses on the road during the worst time frame,” she explained. “We felt that the runs could be completed before the rain turned to ice and all students would be safety to the schools. The most important thing is the safety of our students,” Lambert said.
“Unfortunately the freeze happened earlier than predicted,” she continued. “Our buses are equipped with chains and once they were in route we were confident they could make their runs safely.” There were a lot of stories circulating about a potential head on collision involving a school bus during the morning commute to school. “The accident that occurred on the bridge in St. George was of no fault of our driver,” Lambert informed. “He was stopped at the end of the bridge preparing to turn onto the main road when a truck turning onto the bridge slid into the front of his bus. The driver and all students on the bus were checked by our local EMS and cleared to return to school or for their parents to pick them up if they chose to do so.”
Sheila Marsh, Director of EMS, said at the time of the flash freeze, two units were on duty. Parsons, along with herself in private vehicle, reported to the bus incident and the other crew to a two vehicle collision near the Tucker and Preston County line. Off duty EMT’s were called in for back up. “Thank goodness all the kids were alright,” she said. “All of our ambulances in this county all ended up at DM within 40 minutes of each other,” she stated. In addition to the two weather related accidents, two medical emergencies also dispatched units which put all of the available ambulances and personnel on scenes. “I’m just glad that people came out on their time off,” Marsh said. “They’re good about that.”
Marsh stated that, in the case of another emergency happening while all four units were deployed, they have what is called a mutual aid contract with surrounding counties. If another call would have came in requiring an ambulance, depending on the location, the next nearest county would have been dispatched to assist where needed. “We always help each other out like that,” Marsh explained.
Assistant Maintenance Engineer for District Eight Adam Helmick said that the roads were pre-treated with brine the day prior, but with the quick drop in temperatures leading to the flash freeze, it wasn’t as effective as it normally is. He also explained that when there is significant rain between application and the proposed freeze, the salt content in the brine decreases which lessens the ability of the brine. “It kind of caught us by surprise,” Helmick said after watching the weather predictions carefully, but the freezing temperatures arrived several hours prior to what was expected.
When the freezing began, plow trucks with a combination of cinders and salts were out on the roadways treating where needed. The trucks are required to remain on the primary roadways until clear before addressing the secondary roads in the county. “We run three, eight hour shifts this time of year for 24 hour coverage,” Helmick explained. The weekends vary depending on the forecast, explaining that the coming weekend will have employees working around the clock.
Kevin White, Chief of Company 10 Volunteer Fire Department and OEM Director, stated there were only two calls to which the VFD responded to, one of which being the school bus accident. “Any time there is a school related incident the whole county is called,” he explained, “this is standard protocol.” “We placed Leading Creek Company 47 into our station for coverage of any other incidents until we were able to determine the severity of the bus involved accident,” he said. “The weather is very unpredictable in Tucker County as we all know, but this time of year it can be more so,” White continued “We all work very hard to prepare for incoming weather, but you can’t set your watch to an exact time that it will hit. We can only do our best to prepare and be ready.”
The first responders and Division of Highways were ready to respond when duty called. To be sure you too are prepared for potential incoming weather, you can sign up for the emergency alert system at www.911TEAMS.org for up to date alerts and warnings that can be customized to your preference. This service is free of charge and a beneficial asset to remain prepared for what may be to come.
