Firefighters Assist School Kids On A Snowy Ride Home

New Market Volunteer Fire Department assisting in getting children home safe.
-Photo courtesy of Capt. Sammy Solomon

The East Tennessee area was blanketed by snow, as precipitation and frigid air finally meshed. It was the event that everyone has been expecting through the month of January, however most were not expecting it when it arrived early Tuesday morning. Unusually cold temperatures, that hovered in the high teens for most of the day on Tuesday, made the falling snow immediately have impact on Jefferson and surrounding counties. Local schools were in session and made the call for an eleven o’clock dismissal, however, with roads quickly becoming snow covered, the decision was made for an even earlier dismissal. Parents lined the school parking lots to pick up their students and some local business closed the doors early, or worked on a skeleton crew, to allow employees in outlying areas to make their way home.

New Market Volunteer Fire Department
-Photo courtesy of Capt. Sammy Solomon

Deputy Director of Jefferson County EMS, Tim Wilder, said that it had been a busy day for EMS in Jefferson County. With snow still falling into the early evening hours of Tuesday, January 28, 2014, Wilder cautioned that those that do not have to travel should stay home and off the roads and those that must get out should drive with care. Some Jefferson County school children received assistance from their local Fire Department, when buses ran into trouble and the Highway Departments worked quickly and diligently through the day and into the night to clear roads. The community came together to help the children and buses navigate the slick streets. New Market Volunteer Firefighter Sammy Solomon stated that their department assisted in getting Jefferson County students home safely in several communities and Extreme Towing came out to help a bus in need. According to Solomon, even emergency personnel found the navigation of the slick roads hazardous and one ambulance found itself in a dicey situation, as the snow fell. Jefferson County School joined the majority of schools in the region, including Carson Newman University, in closing schools for Wednesday, January 29, 2014. Though the final days of the first month of 2014 have been blustery, in true East Tennessee fashion, the extended forecast for the area shows the first days of February to be much milder, with temperatures often hovering above average, and the blanket of white could turn into a pre spring warm up in just a few bipolar days.