My township
has a major river running through. The
Cuyahoga River valley is crossed by massive highway spans with traffic whizzing
overhead and no idea of life in the valley below. Down here we citizens get across the river by
driving into the valley, crossing the river on one of several bridges, climbing
back up on roads built on ridges of our old glacial moraine.
The roads
all twist and turn as they follow the ridges; the grade change is three hundred
or more feet over a couple of miles.
Great motorcycle roads. And there
are accidents occasionally.
Some of the
roads belong to and are maintained by the state or the county. Most belong to and are maintained by the
township. This story is about a freak
ice storm in the valley late last winter.
It hit and left in half an hour.
It began as rain and coated the roads with ice in less than the time
required to drive into the valley, or out.
Truxell Road
(called Kendall Road at the top) is a county road that winds down into the
valley. A car spun out of control half way down, at Kendall Lake. Someone was injured, emergency crews were
sent. The police, first responders,
started down Kendall from the top. At
the accident they slid off the road. EMS started up from the bottom. The EMS ambulance could not get up the hill,
in spite of its weight.
One of our
road crew was passing on Akron Peninsula road, at the foot of the hill, on the
way to salt township roads. The
ambulance crew stopped him. It was a
county road, but the county crews hadn't come yet; it was an emergency, could
the township truck help?
Doug was
driving this time. Like the little train
that could he started up head first, and in a few feet slid back, as the
ambulance had done. Only one thing to
do. He turned the truck around and went
up the hill backwards, spraying salt all the way. The turns are not hairpin, but they are
continuous. He did it hanging out the
door, his head coated in ice as he backed slowly, the EMS fellows hanging out
their windows and cheering him on.
They made it
to the lake; he dumped more than enough salt to let the EMS crew work and to
free the police cruiser. Doug claims the
first thing he said to the police on the scene, “I hope you fellows closed all
these roads at the top of the hill; I’m not going to bail out any more of your
sorry county butts with township salt!”
After it was
all squared away, he went back to work on township roads. He received a commendation
from the township trustees.
Wonderful, Joanne. He deserved that commendation!
ReplyDeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteEveryday heroes. That's what we like!! YAM xx
Nice to know that in this day of every man for himself that there are still people who do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteIt always feels good to do the right thing (and rub it in a little in the process).
ReplyDeleteDoug's comment is a classic! I'm hoping a pay raise for Doug would never be turned down.
ReplyDeleteJane x
Doug is a hero certifiable.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for people like this. I can imagine how difficult and tension making this incident was. Extreme weather is never fun.
ReplyDeleteWell, good for him! I love your header picture. So pretty!
ReplyDeleteHe most certainly did deserve that commendation. Wonderful, heartwarming story. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat is a GREAT story! What a good guy.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's amazing. I wish we had more county/city workers like Doug.
ReplyDeleteThree Cheers for Doug !
ReplyDeleteLove it!!
ReplyDeleteNice story.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed that story... thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDoug is one of a kind. Hope he gets all the recognition he deserves.
ReplyDeleteHe deserves the commendation!
ReplyDeleteGood ole Doug really knows when to turn on the charm! (I have a theory that most true heroes are reluctant ones.)
ReplyDelete