OSAGE COUNTY  — At 4:38 p.m. on Sunday, Osage County 911 became very busy as calls began pouring into the agency about slide-offs and accidents, the biggest of which occurred on Hwy. 63 between Rt. E and Freeburg.

911 Director Ron Hoffman reported that 35 cars were stuck — some on the road, others having slid off into ditches — but no injuries were reported.

Maries County Chief Deputy Scott John and another deputy passed the scene at about 5:15. They went up the hill and activated their emergency lights to warn oncoming traffic. It took about an hour for the Highway Patrol to respond to the scene.

Trooper Dustin Crafton worked the scene and said two tractor-trailers were unable to move due to the ice, and that one jackknifed, further blocking the road. “There were no crashes, per se,” he said. “What surprised me the most was seeing cars driving the speed limit or more in these conditions. You can’t expect to get anywhere safely driving that fast with ice on the road.”

Hoffman said the first call to 911 regarding the traffic jam came from an Argyle firefighter. Argyle Fire was then dispatched to the north end while Freeburg Fire covered the south.

“We also dispatched Westphalia Fire to block the road at Westphalia,” said Hoffman. “They told people to wait, turn around, or go home because it wasn’t safe to proceed.”

Another call came in to 911 regarding five cars on and off Hwy. 63 near Rt. JJ, just north of Freeburg.

Maries Osage Ambulance responded to a call there for a report of a pediatric patient with difficulty breathing.

Crafton said he advised the ambulance crew to transport the patient to a hospital in Rolla because the highway was blocked. MOAD Administrator Carla Butler confirmed on Tuesday morning that the ambulance took the patient to Phelps Health in Rolla.

Osage County deputies responded to numerous locations to assist motorists in need during inclement weather.

Capt. Travis Shaffer noted the department was responsible for traffic control at Hwy. 63 and Rt. E.

Deputies arrested one person on Hwy. 63 near CR 632 for driving while intoxicated. The individual was processed and released, pending criminal charges.

Yet another accident on Hwy. 89 South involved six cars, which deputies assisted, along with a slide-off on Hwy. 100 and another on Hwy. 50.

Hoffman reported 20 slide-offs around the county and 23 other calls with various reports and requesting service.

During a 6.5-hour period, 911 received 142 phone calls through emergency and non-emergency lines.

“We received calls from citizens asking why the roads were blocked and when they would become open again,” said Hoffman. “Talking with fire, EMS, and law enforcement on Monday during a debrief, they also were getting calls at their offices, on their personal cell phones, and through social media.”

Hoffman added that he is implementing additional measures to help reduce the overwhelming number of phone calls in the future. “It can be a hindrance to answer informational questions that are not calling to make reports,” he said. “In some cases, those additional calls or traffic can make cleaning and clearing a call more difficult.”

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crews were trying to manage a road but were called to a scene to provide extra service.

“We were making requests of MoDOT on behalf of law enforcement to re-salt the road, and this left other roads untreated,” said Hoffman. “We had three wrecker services trying to relieve the congestion of vehicles on the road. We had to call for help from Holts Summit because Linn, Belle, and Vienna tow services were busy.” 

Trooper Crafton noted that it was difficult for MoDOT to work on the road because of the number of vehicles involved.

“It took time to get the road salted,” he said. “It was a predicament to reroute traffic because the county roads hadn’t been treated. That was dangerous.”

While three Osage County dispatchers handled the call volume, the Highway Patrol was joined by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office in protecting the scene and preventing additional slide-offs.

“The deputies were a big help,” said Crafton.

One tractor-trailer was cleared Sunday night, but the other remained in place, along with several cars, until road conditions improved.

“That’s better than having tow trucks come in,” said Crafton. “It makes a hazardous situation even worse.”

Hoffman agrees. “During slide-offs, the roadway can become too dangerous to manage,” he said.

Hoffman approached the sheriff, EMS, and wrecker services several years ago. He developed a multi-vehicle accident plan outlining that during slide-offs, when no one is hurt, and there is no vehicle or property damage, emergency crews mark each vehicle with yellow caution tape to notify other drivers not to call 911 again. Emergency crews document the owner’s name and phone number and give them a ride home. When the weather is better, and responders can get there safely, the cars can be taken care of. “No one gets hurt,” said Hoffman.

Osage County deputies worked with the Highway Patrol to clear the remaining vehicles from the road on Monday.

Hoffman’s plan has spread all across the region and works well. “From an Emergency Management standpoint, citizens should watch for weather forecasts, stay home or have a late departure when the roads first start to get bad,” he said.

Hoffman plans to post as much information as possible on the Osage County Emergency Management website in the future about these types of incidents, when a road is closed and when it reopens to keep drivers apprised. “Information is the most important, but also, citizens can help by reducing the number of non-emergency phone calls to the 911 center and other agencies,” Hoffman added. “Calls for service may get triaged, and in some cases, calls will get prioritized, and others may have a delayed response for several hours.”

Osage Ambulance was unable to respond to the Hwy. 63 traffic jam to assist due to road conditions and closures.

“Emergency services were stretched thin, but thankfully, no fatalities or serious injuries were reported in the county,” said OAD Administrator Josh Krull.

Chief Deputy John traveled back through the Hwy. 63 scene at 10:45 p.m. and sat stationary for 10 minutes before the road was reopened.

It took about five hours to clear Hwy. 63 from the time emergency personnel arrived.

While emergency crews worked the traffic jam on Hwy. 63, Osage Ambulance District was having difficulties in Belle.

Krull noted that Medic 632 was responding to a reported motor vehicle accident with injuries at the intersection of S. Bland Ave. and E. Fifth Street in Belle.

While responding, the ambulance turned onto Hwy. 28, just past Rt. EE, when the two EMTs experienced extremely icy road conditions causing the ambulance to travel off the south side of the highway at a slow speed.

Sgt. Mark Morgan with the Belle Police Department responded to the scene.

“The ambulance was responding to a single-vehicle accident on Fifth Street with injuries,” he said. “While responding, the ambulance hit a patch of black ice, slid off the roadway, and overturned.”

The ambulance rolled onto the passenger side after traveling down a small embankment. Both EMTs inside the ambulance were properly restrained and called dispatch for assistance. Bystanders came to their aid quickly, and responders from Belle Fire and the Belle Police Department quickly responded, along with another Osage EMS crew. Owensville EMS was requested to respond to the original accident scene for mutual assistance.

Both EMTs were able to get out of the ambulance on their own and were transported by an EMS supervisor to Phelps Health in Rolla for evaluation. As of 1 a.m. on Monday, they had been discharged from the hospital and are expected to return to full duty later this week.

Owen’s Towing removed the ambulance from the roadway.

Another Osage EMS crew was transporting a patient to University Hospital in Columbia and experienced icy road conditions on Ridenhour Hill in Belle, causing them to slide partially off the roadway. Owens Towing, Belle Fire, and Osage County deputies responded to that location and provided assistance to get the crew and patient safely up the hill so they could continue transport. MoDOT also responded to the area with a salt truck.

In Gasconade County, Sheriff Scott Eiler said deputies were requested to close Hwy. 50 at the county line with Franklin due to several vehicle slide-offs on the Franklin County side.

Road conditions from the county line east to Gerald had deteriorated and state highway workers responded to treat the roadway.

“Locally, I think we did alright,” said Eiler. “Everyone did a good job and stayed home.”

He estimated the highway was closed for about 30 minutes while the road was treated and cleared.

He said his deputies responded to a slide-off on Hwy. 19 at Tappmeyer Road. No injuries were reported. And one of his deputies escaped injuries in his personal vehicle when it overturned on 50 near Rt. K. Gerald-Rosebud Fire Protection District personnel responded to a slide-off on Blue House Road on Monday afternoon.