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Permalink Reply by Shaun Hansen on February 15, 2010 at 4:21pm

I live in SE Minnesota. Rural emergency access is one of our biggest worries. We have to rely heavily on department member who have snow plows on thier own personal vehicles to sometimes gain us access to the property. Ice is one that give us the most headaches. We would have to call county or city works to throw sand and salt if we need too. We have discussed many times through out the years about getting a snow plow for our brush truck that is seldom used in the winter other than personnel transport. Winters are a scary time, expecially since you dont know what conditions are like on the scene until you accually arrive. We had a call a couple of months ago for a house fire. When we arrives on scene the house was almost burnt out, nothing left. The neighbors saw a glow and called 911. It had to of been burning for quite a few hours before we got the page. Needless to say, when we arrived on scene we were faced with almost a 1/4 mile driveway with nearly 14" of snow and ice. It had not been plowed for a few days. Access was nearly impossible. Without the response of one of our department members, who drove his POV to the scene with a plow on the front, we would of never been able to make it down the drive without getting stuck. The man who lived at the residence was hurt and in need of medical attention. So we were able to help. It is sad what happened in New Ulm. I could not imagine what it must have been like to stand back and watch the structure burn. We have not had that happen, but have been close.. Too close.. Take care and be Safe.
Thoughts and prayers go out to the victims families and the Department members who did what they could.

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