Storm notes...
EMS, police not immune to danger of icy roads

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, 8:30 p.m. -- While most Nelson County residents were safe in their homes as the icy precipitation fell Thursday evening, the county's emergency responders did not have the luxury of staying home. Police, firefighters and EMS crews responded to calls as on any other day, though the icy roads created numerous problems.

Responding to numerous ice-related mishaps around the county, several officers found their own vehicles sliding off the roadway. A KSP trooper responding to an accident on KY 1066 near Bloomfield warned responding units of the hazardous roads, reporting that his cruiser had slipped off the roadway while he was heading to the scene.

A Nelson County deputy was forced to abandon his cruiser on the Fairfield end of KY 509 after it left the roadway and wreckers were unable to climb the icy hills to help him out of the ditch. He was later rescued by a fellow deputy driving one a 4-wheel-drive SUV.

Two EMTs aboard Nelson County EMS Squad 36 spent nearly two hours in frustration on KY 509 about 3 miles east of US31E when their ambulance slid off the icy roadway into an embankment.

The ambulance was responding to a call on Deatsville Road when it slid off the roadway.

Two different wrecker companies attempted to reach the ambulance. Both wrecker drivers turned around after being unable to get traction on the ice. A KSP trooper reported he climbed partway up one hill only to have to back down it to turn around in a driveway -- in the dark.

At EMS Station One, fellow EMS workers were coordinating efforts to get the ambulance pulled back onto the roadway to put it back in service. A KSP trooper and a deputy sheriff were both unsuccessful trying to reach the EMS crew, reporting the roadway was "a sheet of ice."

Informed of the road conditions as reported by the officers, one of the stranded EMTs replied "We're well aware of that, Dispatch, what are we supposed to do, sit here all night?"

Not long after that exchange, the deputy sheriff driving the SUV arrived to help the EMTs. After some discussion about trying to pull the ambulance out of the ditch with the SUV, the EMTs abandoned the ambulance where it sat and were taken to EMS by the deputy sheriff.

UPDATE: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, 9:51 p.m. - Joe and Eva Pruitt with the help of an SUV recover the stuck ambulance from KY 509.

Power outages start in Bullitt County

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, 8:30 p.m. -- The ice buildup hasn't caused major power outages yet in Nelson County, though Salt River Electric repair crews are out at this writing troubleshooting several power outages in several areas near Brooks in Bullitt County.

Manhunt takes police over treacherous roads

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, 11:55 p.m. -- Members of the Nelson County Sheriff's Office and Kentucky State Police were looking for a male subject in his mid-30s involved in a domestic dispute on Old Bloomfield Road. After the man took off, a deputy sheriff and two KSP troopers began searching the area.

When they were unable to find the suspect leaving the area via either end of Old Bloomfield Road, they believed he was probalby going to try to make it to US 62 via Dugan Lane. The suspect's vehicle was located abandoned where it had left the road at the Dugan Lane/Old Bloomfield Road intersection. The suspect was located nearby in a field by a deputy. After an altercation with the deputy, EMS was requested to respond. One of the state trooper's cruiser slid off the roadway during the search and was stuck until pulled later pulled back on the roadway with the help of a deputy sheriff. The suspect was transported to Flaget Memorial Hospital for treatment.

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