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MnDOT plow driver Jeff Holte waded into waist-deep snow, then dug with his hands through a snow-packed car to rescue a motorist trapped upside down in a ditch along Interstate 94.
Holte, a member of AFSCME Local 789, was plowing I-94 northwest of Alexandria during the storm that hit much of the state on Feb. 20. Temperatures had been in the mid-30s earlier in the day, he recalls. But by late afternoon, winds picked up, the temperature dove, and vehicles quickly packed blowing snow into an ice sheet on the highway. “It went from being in real good shape to a complete mess in a short time,” he says.
Holte had been on the road about an hour. About 5 p.m. he had just turned into the eastbound lanes near Evansville About a half-mile ahead, a car spun out, flipped onto its roof, and skidded backwards into the ditch.
“It went into the ditch like a sled, still doing 50 miles an hour. I didn’t know it at the time, but it blew the back window out and just packed that car full of snow.”
Holte maneuvered onto the shoulder, called State Patrol dispatch, grabbed his gloves, and waded into the ditch. No one else was stopping to help.
“This young lady was pretty frantic. I had no idea how she got out. She had no coat, no hat, no gloves, no shoes. She was waist deep in snow. She said her boyfriend was trapped and couldn’t breathe.”
Holte put the woman into his truck to warm up, then headed to the upside-down car. Both driver-side doors were buried in snow. Holte couldn’t open the front passenger door, either, but did manage to pry open the back. He crawled in on his belly and started digging with his hands.
“It was unbelievable how much snow was packed in that car. It was like digging into a snow fort.” The boyfriend, Tony Pelowski, was hanging upside down by his seat belt. He had shoved enough snow away to breathe, Holte says, but otherwise couldn’t move.
Holte cleared as much snow as he could from the back seat, then started digging between the bucket seats. First he dug to the seat release so he could get the back rest down. Then he dug to find the seat-belt release. He freed Pelowski and pulled him out. Holte moved Pelowski to his truck so he could warm up, too.
Miraculously, both passengers had only a few scratches.
After the State Patrol arrived and took over, Holte headed back onto the interstate, plowing. “I needed to get back out there,” he says. He worked the rest of his shift, till midnight.
In his 15 years with MnDOT, Holte says, he’s seen plenty of spinouts and drivers in ditches or snowbanks. “They drive way too fast and get themselves in trouble.” But usually, he says, there’s no need to stop. He can see that they’re on their cell phone and calling for help. “They’re OK, and usually we’re doing more good for more people if we keep plowing and sanding.
“This was unique. I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time, that everything turned out good, and that everybody was OK.”
Reprinted from the website of AFSCME Council 5.