Desolate stretch of Lolo Pass in March 2018.

Powell operator Amundson renders midnight aid
to struggling motorist

The night shift on December 20 started at 6 p.m., just as it does every winter night near Powell on US-12 along the Lochsa River. Snow fell for several hours and then became rain, creating challenges for the three-man crew as pavement temps remained below freezing.

Mechanical issues stretched the crew thin along the windy route, and D2 maintenance operator Allen Amundson was heading up Lolo Pass when a motorist flagged him down on the highway.

Amundson learned the man, named Casey, needed to get to a hospital but couldn’t drive. They were 100 miles upriver on the Idaho side, with medical services in Montana no closer. 

“There was a lot of back and forth trying to figure out how to get him medical attention,” Amundson said.

An ambulance from 148 miles away would take several hours to get on scene, but with stormy weather grounding helicopters, it was the quickest option.

Or it was, until foreman Mark Schuster shifted personnel to US-12, freeing Amundson to drive Casey 40 miles before meeting the ambulance.

After Casey was on his way to Lewiston, the Powell crew pulled together to secure his belongings at the shed. The roads were cleared by 6 a.m.

The next night, Amundson called Casey and learned that Life Flight had picked him up near Kooskia and that he was currently recovering in a Grangeville hospital. His keys, which had been left by mistake in the plow truck, had been delivered just that morning via another crew member.  
  
Add this to the team’s public service efforts in the last year: reuniting a weary holiday traveler named Nan with her purse, temporarily adopting a lost dog named Annie, coming to the aid of fellow first responders after an explosion and supporting a veteran walking from Washington to Florida to raise awareness about mental health. 

“That’s just what we do,” Amundson said.

The Powell crew might just be due for some good karma in the new year.

Published 01-03-20