Travel in Brown County proved to be difficult Tuesday and Wednesday as ice continues to cover highways around Brownwood. Law enforcement and emergency workers have been kept busy by numerous calls for assistance from motorists traveling on highways in the area.
An 18-wheeler received helped from a local wrecking company and volunteer fire department as it tried to travel up a hill.
When the trucker experienced difficulty just past Park Road 15 on Hwy 279 on Tuesday and was blocking a lane and a half of traffic, Lake Brownwood Bridge Volunteer Fire Department and a Welch Wrecker pulled it up the hill. The truck was headed toward Abilene on icy Hwy 279 when the difficulties occurred.
At the same time, another tractor trailer was jack-knifed near the EZ Mart just past the lake bridge on Hwy 279 and needed assistance.
Both Tuesday and Wednesday, emergency crews braved the weather all day and into the night helping stranded motorists who had either lost traction, could not make it up hills, slid off of roads or had been involved in accidents throughout Brown County. Scanners buzzed with calls, while law enforcement, fire departments, ambulance crews, county road crews and first responders did their best to help everyone.
Icy roads made travel slow for rescuers and crews were stretched thin, sometimes in all directions of the county. Some county roads experiencing dangerous ice accumulations could not be serviced as precinct crews ran low of material to treat the road.
TxDOT and Law Enforcement discourage travel until the roads clear. Conditions are not forecasted to be any better into the evening and overnight. Weather forecasts show temperatures will continue to stay well below freezing, in the lower teens, while wind chills plummet to a range of 0 to negative 15 degrees. Wind chill advisories warn that frost bite can occur if skin is exposed during these bitterly cold days.
Photo contributed by Chief Randy Height of Lake Brownwood Bridge VFD showing assistance to an 18-wheeler on Hwy 279.
