Neighbours dig paths for fire truck, ambulance stuck in snow

A show of neighbourly kindness helped free a fire truck and an ambulance responding to a call in Sage Creek during a blizzard Thursday.

Nelson Camp said he was enjoying a slower morning with his kids at home after school was cancelled when one of his sons told him there was a fire truck outside.

Camp went to take a look.

There was no smoke or flames coming from any neighbouring homes.

He saw the truck spinning its wheels, having become struck on a snow drift.

“A bunch of us as neighbours went outside. We determined there must have been a medical emergency in one of the homes down the street, and at that point, we tried to figure out the priority,” Camp said.

The ambulance was able to get in, but there was no way for it to turn around, Camp said.

Neighbours helped carve a path through two- to three-foot drifts so emergency workers could get a gurney to the home.

“It was great to see everyone working together,” Camp said, adding one of his sons, who is 12, was the youngest helping, working alongside a man “well into his senior years.”

“Small shovels, big shovels, scoops, speaking different languages, people from different backgrounds… everyone was just working together toward this common goal.”

“Small shovels, big shovels, scoops, speaking different languages, people from different backgrounds — everyone was just working together toward this common goal,” Camp said.

Eventually, the hard work of more than a dozen neighbours — who dug a substantial path to ensure the ambulance could turn around — helped free the stuck emergency vehicles.

Camp said it probably took about 45 minutes, including a few false starts from the fire truck that had become hung up on the snow.

“The first responders are always there to help people when we need them,” Camp said. “This was an opportunity for us to get together and help them.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca