BILLINGS — Montana’s roads remain dangerous for travelers after last week's heavy snowstorm, overwhelming emergency crews with hundreds of crashes and calls for assistance.
According to Billings towing service Hanser's Automotive, the last seven days have been some of the busiest in years. On Friday, the business received a record 140 calls in a single 24-hour period.
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“Everybody is stretched very thin," said Shel Hanser, co-owner of Hanser's. "Everybody is trying to help people in emergency situations in those cases as resources become pretty sparse.”
The storms that hammered the area and Interstate 90 last week dropped up to eight inches of snow, causing the interstate closure between Park City and Bozeman Friday morning due to plows unable to keep up with the snowfall and a high number of accidents.
"We probably have 15 or 20 semis that were in the ditch or jackknifed in the ditch, and it's just not safe for anybody to be out there," said Shel. “People have no idea the workload, the intensity, the time, whether it's dispatch to roadside. It's kind of unimaginable."
The intense weather has strained towing services, and emergency responders have also faced an overwhelming number of calls. In Billings, police responded to 138 crashes between Monday and Friday, and Park County’s Rural Fire District 1 reported spending 45 hours responding to 27 separate calls. The fire district also handled two rescues and assisted with closing I-90.
The towing company is urging drivers to remain cautious when traveling on snowy and slick roads. Hanser says motorists should give themselves extra time to reach their destinations and, if they see emergency crews assisting on the highways to to slow down and move over.
“The interstates right now, especially if the wind picks up, all that blowing snow turns into ice and you have those same situations for sure, so you just got to slow down and be aware and take your time.”
