MORGANTOWN – While the imaginations of many Monongalia County residents likely wandered off to warmer locales during the recent winter storm, their cars, by and large, stayed at home.
And for that, the county’s first responders are grateful.
“Winter Storm Fern brought the snow, but you brought the cooperation. Our deputies responded to only two accidents and two motorist assists – numbers we’d be happy with in the middle of summer,” the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office posted to social media Monday evening. “By keeping the roads clear, you enabled our deputies to focus on protective patrols and allowed road crews to work efficiently. Thank you for helping us keep Mon County safe!”
MECCA 911 Deputy Director Brad Wilson said it was clear by the volume of calls that people were hunkering down and heeding the call to stay off the road.
“It was actually quieter than normal for a weekend,” he said Tuesday morning. “We’ve had 11 vehicle accidents since Saturday. Three of them had injuries, but it seemed like they were all minor. There were 14 calls for motorist assists – which are probably cars that just got hung up somewhere – two reports of wires down and three reported structure fires that turned out to be furnace issues.”
While Westover Police Chief Scott Carl noted there were two or three minor incidents of cars sliding into a ditch or embankment, there were zero reported accidents in Westover.
Across the bridge in Morgantown, Police Chief Eric Powell said the department responded to 151 calls for service between midnight Saturday and 11 p.m. Monday.
“During this period, we investigated four motor vehicle accidents, made two DUI arrests, and assisted four motorists,” Powell said. “Overall, call volume, particularly traffic-related incidents, was significantly lower than what we typically see on a normal weekend. This suggests, and we are happy to see, that many residents heeded warnings, exercised caution, and stayed off the roads during the storm, which greatly contributed to community safety.”
In that same timeframe, the Morgantown Fire Department responded to a total of 15 calls, including nine fire alarms, two gas odor/carbon monoxide calls, and four additional service calls.
“We are grateful to share that we saw no motor vehicle accidents during this period,” MFD Chief Gary Freshour said. “From our perspective, our response calls show that residents took the weather warnings seriously and stayed indoors. We appreciate everyone’s caution and cooperation over the weekend.”
Tyler Savage, quality assurance and improvement specialist for Mon EMS, said the agency was activated four times for vehicle crashes and six times for falls following the arrival of Fern’s ice and snow.
“Our top three reasons for 911 being activated from Saturday to Monday were medical in nature,” Savage explained, explaining those reasons were general illness, difficulty breathing, and psychiatric emergencies.
While community caution lessened the load on first responders, it was decidedly not an unusually slow weekend for road crews.
Morgantown Director of Engineering and Public Works Damien Davis said the city’s plow operators worked around the clock through the weekend and planned to staff a final night shift Tuesday night before returning to normal operations Wednesday.
“Our snowplow crews were hard at work before and throughout the winter storm. We are extremely proud of the city’s response to this weather event, especially given the challenging road conditions created by a mix of ice and snow,” Davis said, explaining the city always appreciates the community’s patience during winter weather events.
But patience with those responding in and to winter weather, and patience with winter weather itself are entirely different things.
“Let’s hope not,” Wilson said when asked about snow in the forecast. “I’ll be honest with you, if I have to shovel one more inch of snow, I may pack up, retire and move to Florida.”
