VIDEO: When Mother Nature gets tough, the tough get going

Reelsville firefighter Matthew Misner uses his pickup truck to help a semi up an incline on U.S. 40.

Courtesy Reelsville VFD

REELSVILLE — One accident had some unique challenges during the chaos of Saturday’s extreme weather event.

Ice on Interstate 70 caused an accident in a dip in the highway near County Road 625 West that not only shut the road down but made it difficult for first responders to get to, including highway trucks to put a salt mixture on the road.

Firefighters from Reelsville/Washington Township were on the scene but getting traffic moving on the highway was a mess. Vehicles were sliding instead of going forward, especially semis.

“We really just wanted the road to be cleared or at least moving,” firefighter Matthew Misner said. “The salt trucks were not available or wreckers due to wrecks everywhere.”

The incident required some out-of-the-box thinking.

Misner, who lives in Clay County, used his pickup truck to tow semis along the highway’s incline to a place where they could get traction.

It was his first experience pulling a semi uphill, but it wasn’t the last time that day.

“It was our only option at the time,” said Misner about the traffic dilemma and the nasty weather. “Sometimes, you just have to adapt and overcome.”

Video courtesy Reelsville VFD.