Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303260069
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV21 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
During the "blizzard of '93," Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad answered 30 calls in a little over 48 hours. Normally the squad answers about 120 calls in an entire month.
This particular weekend, our resources were stretched very thin. We could not have accomplished as much as we did if not for individuals and agencies who helped us over and over again.
We have previously worked with some of the people who assisted us; others we did not know. In the height of the blizzard, we did not get their names. Because of this, we would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to all who have helped us.
The members of the Blacksburg Fire Department pulled our units out of snowdrifts and gave us needed extra manpower many times. Blacksburg Limousine Service helped dig us out on a call to Alleghany Street.
We would like to extend our thanks to the town of Blacksburg road crew for their assistance repeatedly during all our town calls. Thanks to Blacksburg Police Department for additional manpower and support. Virginia Department of Transportation crews made heroic efforts scraping and pushing snow so that ambulances could get to their destinations.
On one particularly difficult call, we had to walk half a mile through drifts in and back out to take a patient to the hospital. We had two vehicles hung up in snow on Mount Tabor Road. Two unknown Samaritans came to our aid in the five-hour ordeal.
One gentlemen came down from Sunshine Farms with a tractor and another appeared with a front-end loader to dig us out on Saturday in the worst of the storm. These men made this difficult situation much easier. Also, thanks to our patient and his family who remained calm and trusting, thus making our job less difficult.
Blacksburg Rescue would like to thank Hardee's, Radford Bros. and Kroger for their assistance in feeding our crews and the bus load of nearly 50 Canadian young people who were stranded at our headquarters over the weekend.
The entire crew salutes all these men and women for their automatic and instantaneous cooperation and commitment to helping their neighbors in the most difficult conditions we have experienced to date.
Jerry W. Olinger Captain, Blacksburg Rescue Squad
Blacksburg
by CNB