BACK MOUNTAIN, Pa. — Traveling around the Back Mountain after this storm, drivers had to take it slow while freezing rain and sleet made a mess in Luzerne County.
Newswatch 16 was out later than most, especially first responders.
"4:38 this morning was one of our first calls out in Lehman Township," said Captain Ed Gray with Back Mountain Regional Fire & EMS. "We had some wires, trees down, the ice was definitely one of the big contributing factors in the Back Mountain. And it still technically is."
Despite heading out on these roads to respond to a dozen calls between that time and 9:30 in the morning, emergency officials say the Back Mountain was spared for the most part from the brunt of this storm.
"You watch the totals come in, and it was going to be snow, was going to be ice, where would the line be? And there was some pretty high predictions that came out from some people on the ice, so yes, all things considered," said Dallas Township EMA Coordinator Alan Pugh. "I will say I'm happy that it's only where we're at could have been much worse."
Officials urge anyone going out following a storm like this to exercise caution until people like Joe Wojcik can clean things up.
When Newswatch 16 found him, he'd already been working on clearing lots since 11 p.m. the night before.
"Just trying to keep up on it, get a head start, and just we're not we can't get really get ahead of it just keeps coming down," he explained.
He says the redundancy at a time like this can get annoying, especially since ice is more difficult to remove than snow.
"That's typically our luck. It seems like so we'll go we go around. This is actually our third. Like we went around and fully cleaned up places. Then this started back up again. So just luck of the draw another day," added Wojcik.
Joe says he'll be out for another several hours doing what he's got to do to keep his lots clear until next time.
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