CENTENNIAL, Colo. – Colorado National Guard members were summoned early Wednesday to evacuate a motorist who was stranded on a state highway due to heavy snow.
The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management requested assistance evacuating the driver from Colorado Highway 109 south of La Junta, Colorado.
A Snow Response Team is composed of five Soldiers and two small-unit support vehicles from the Colorado National Guard's maintenance facility in Rocky Ford, Colorado, were dispatched to the site, where they located the driver. Soldiers transported the driver to La Junta.
The same team was called a day earlier to assist local authorities in the evacuation of 30 motorists stranded in heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions. This came following a major vehicle crash at mile marker 49 on Colorado Highway 287 in Prowers County, about 20 miles south of Lamar.
As part of this mission, the team cleared a significant amount of the highway from Lamar south to mile marker 41.
"The Colorado National Guard is always ready to assist our community when called on by civil authorities," said Air Force Maj. Gen. H. Michael Edwards, adjutant general of Colorado and commander of the Colorado National Guard. "SUSVs have about 1.8 pounds per square inch of ground contact throughout the whole vehicle, making them a major asset during a blizzard, when they can easily maneuver on top of the snow."
The SUSV is a fully-tracked, articulated vehicle designed to operate off road in a variety of conditions and environments. These specialized vehicles, used only by the National Guard in Colorado, are most often used to evacuate people trapped in winter storms. The vehicles are a federally funded resource used solely for domestic response.