Roy Grossen and Don Fry

Thorne family thanks Council crew, Grossen, Fry for motorist assistance
on U.S. 95

On the evening of July 21, after visiting friends in Montana, Sharon Thorne and her daughter were returning to Boise, with a stop in Grangeville. What was usually a four-hour trip to Meridian from Grangeville turned into an 8.5-hour trip. As bad as that was, it would have been even worse without the help of Roy Grossen, Don Fry, and the Council Maintenance crew.

Marv Thorne, a project manager with URS in Boise, recounted that his wife, Sharon, and daughter, with two grandsons, were travelling on U.S. 95 in separate vehicles.
 
The troop left Grangeville in the early afternoon Monday and stopped in New Meadows. They resumed their travels after food and rest, arriving at the ITD construction project just outside of Council just before the crew was readying to pack it in for the evening.

One of the trucks in the caravan had overheated and started smoking.
 
"They originally were going to drive all the way through Sunday from Seeley Lake, Montana, but I suggested they stay the night in Grangeville," explained Thorne. "I'm very glad they did, because if this would have happened on a Sunday evening, with no one working, it would have been a different story."
 
A crew from Knife River Corp. working on ITD's Alpine to New Meadows project pushed the non-working truck over to the side of the road and offered suggestions as to what could be the problem. Suggestions ranged from the fuel pump, to the water pump, to a radiator low on water. None of those was the problem.
 
Out of ideas, someone gave Sharon the name and phone number for a tow truck. Unfortunately, they could not get in touch with the service.

Enter 26 years of combined ITD experience, in the forms of Roy Grossen, Council Maintenance Technician and Don Fry, a tech from the New Meadows Maintenance shop. Roy and Don are inspectors on the project. They lifted the truck's hood and spotted the trouble.  He did not have the item with him, but asked Sharon to wait as he went to get the part needed to fix the problem, a hose.  Grossen did all this on his own time – the repair took about two hours - and refused to take any money for his troubles.
 
"If he had not fixed the problem, we would have had the truck towed into Council, where they might have been able to fix it the next day. But because of this gentlemen's help, my wife and daughter and two grandsons got home last night," said Thorne in an email the next day.
 
"We really want the ITD employee and the construction crew and flaggers to get a 'Thank You.' Great people - Pray the Lord Blesses each and everyone. It is wonderful when you run into special people like this."
 
Jason Brinkman, ITD District 3 engineering manager for Operations, responded to Grossen as well, saying "I want to express my appreciation personally, and on behalf of the District, for your efforts assisting the Thorne family on U.S. 95 yesterday with the overheated truck.  My own wife travels extensively for work, and I can tell you from her experiences, that assistance like you provided to Mr. Thorne's wife and daughter yesterday is invaluable to someone in their situation!  Thank you, for a job very well done!"

Published 7-25-14