CLARENCE, N.Y. (WKBW) — During the Christmas blizzard, members of snowmobile groups from across Erie County stepped up to rescue stranded drivers.
In the Newstead/Clarence area, more than 250 people were stuck, mostly along Route 5, many of them totally unprepared for the weather.
"A lot of our passengers had no food supplies in their vehicles," explained Newstead Emergency Services Coordinator Dan Kowalik. "They were mainly dressed in shorts as well. They were totally totally unprepared for what they encountered once they hit the WNY area."
As the storm raged, snowmobile club members went out in specialized equipment, including snowmobile trail groomers, which are designed to easily move through feet of snow.
Rich McNamara with the Northern Erie Sno Seekers was out for hours slowly bringing stranded travelers to safety.
"I worked that evening rescuing some 40 people off of Route 5," he said. "People from Maryland coming to Buffalo for Christmas. People passing through to Toronto on the way home, someone from CT, three EMT personnel, four troopers, a dog, a cat, three young children."
Since the storm, Erie County leadership has been working to come up with a way for those snowmobile clubs to work with the county. The county's legislature has been working on a deal that would extend liability protection to trained members of the club operating under county orders during an emergency.
The snowmobile clubs have also been pushing to get one piece of equipment they say would be a game-changers in these situations.
"It's a box that sits on the back of this (groomer) that can hold up to 10 people. It can hold a stretcher, you can bring firemen, EMTs. Anything right to the location for help," explained McNamara. "Instead of three at a time, I can take ten at a time. So maybe not just 40, you could rescue 100 (people) through that evening."
The group worked last year with Senator Pat Gallivan, who tried to include money for two cabs in the state budget. It didn't make the cut, but Gallivan's office says the senator plans to continue pushing for the funds. Club members and emergency personnel say having the equipment would allow more people to be helped faster at a time when minutes matter.
"Minutes mean everything. In every emergency, minutes could be a matter of life and death," explained Kowalik.
The groups are hoping they're able to move forward with both the county agreement and funding for equipment, so they can more quickly and efficiently rescue stranded travelers if a similar storm every happens again.
"We had the wind for 48 hours straight - if they ran out of gas, who knows what would have happened," McNamara said of the stranded travelers he rescued. "They were very thankful."
