MADISON, Wis. — First responders across southern Wisconsin have been busy responding to numerous crashes and slide-offs as a winter storm brings heavy winds, bitter cold and snow to the region.
According to the Wisconsin State Patrol Thursday night, crews statewide responded to 143 motorist assist calls since 7 a.m., as well as 87 vehicle runoffs and 75 crashes.
Between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., crews responded to 35 motorist assist calls, 24 vehicle runoffs, 17 property damage crashes, three personal injury crashes, two hit-and-run crashes and five crashes where it was unknown if anyone was hurt happened in the southwest region of the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
RELATED: Don’t travel Friday unless absolutely necessary, Wisconsin DOT says
Despite earlier projections that more than 2.2 million Wisconsinites would travel this holiday season, it appeared many heeded warnings from officials to stay off the roads amid the storm.
News 3 Now’s Tahleel Mohieldin rode along with police in Verona on Thursday to learn more about how they prioritize calls during a storm. Topping the department’s list when it comes to traffic calls are those involving injuries, followed by road blockages and other hazards. Lower on the list is helping give a push to drivers who slid off the road.
Even if those calls aren’t coming in, Lt. Dustin Fehrman said they like to stay one step ahead “just so I can get a feel of what I’m going to expect, so if I get an emergency response on the highway here in 15 minutes I know what to expect before I get there.”
It’s not uncommon, he added, for officers to come across motorists needing help even before they get a call from the dispatch center.
Often what gets drivers into trouble, he said, is their speed, estimating nine in 10 crashes or slide-offs in this weather involve drivers going too fast for conditions.
Towing fleets across the area, including Liberty Towing in Madison, were also busy. Liberty Towing’s 18-truck fleet responded to more than 100 calls despite being short seven drivers.
“We prioritize by the ones of the people that are stranded, the ones that may freeze, hypothermia, that kind of stuff out there, so we want to get to those people as fast as we can,” owner Rod Timmerman explained.
Tow trucks aren’t immune to the same hurdles as other drivers, he added.
“We are driving in the exact same conditions as all the people on the road… We’ve had some of our own equipment freezing up today and the air systems in these trucks are freezing up and diesel has been gelling up” Timmerman said.
Dane County highway officials said the worst conditions are being found on snow-covered outlying and country roads.
Download the First Warn Weather app to stay up-to-date on current weather conditions and the latest forecast.
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
