BARGERSVILLE, Ind. — A couple of local fire departments need your help ahead of the winter storm.
They're putting together an emergency team of neighbors who own snowmobiles or ATVs, in case roads get impassable.
With the storm bearing down, fire departments are gearing up.
"Emergency responders, we prepare. We make sure that we can respond to numerous calls," said Bargersville Deputy Fire Chief Michael Pruitt.
The crews have salt and snow plows at the ready.
Staffing is increased for Wednesday through Friday and they've also put a call out for help from ordinary citizens.
"It takes a team whenever this stuff rolls in," Pruitt said.
Bargersville Fire is recruiting a team of volunteers right now who have snowmobiles and ATVs that can snake through a snowstorm and get access to people in need during a medical emergency.
"If we needed to get medication to someone or maybe we couldn't get the ambulance to someone to bring them out to take them to the hospital. These are key things that we would use the ATVs and the snowmobiles to bring people out," Pruitt said.
Those machines have helped save lives in the past.
Pruitt's own family became Hoosier helpers during the Blizzard of '78.
"I can remember my father during the Blizzard of '78 using our snowmobiles to travel about ten miles because SR 135 was completely drifted over," Pruitt explained. "He helped the National Guard and a local ambulance service. He went and got a small boy that was ill out in the country and brought him back to the ambulance."
Vernon Township Fire in Hancock County is assembling a team of volunteers, too. They put out the request on Facebook.
"People oftentimes during weather events will ask how can they help and this is one way to do it," said Vernon Township Fire Chief Chad Abel. "If you're willing to put yourself on our resource list, keep your phone handy."
Both communities have rural areas where homes with long driveways could be tough to get to in heavy snow or ice.
"It might be as simple as needing an ATV to be able to get somebody from there to the road where the ambulance is actually at," Abel said. "It's better to have those resources and not need them than suddenly find ourselves scrambling to ask for somebody that has those capabilities come out and help us."
Last February, Aaron Dotson was one of 40 volunteers in Bargersville, willing to use his snowmobile in a similar storm.
"They can call me. I'll be ready. I'll have my phone with me," he told 13News at the time.
They weren't needed in 2020, but this week, Hoosier helpers will be ready once again, just in case.
If you have a snowmobile or ATV, live in Bargersville, Fortville or McCordsville and would like to be added to the volunteer list, contact the fire departments on their Facebook page.