Published: February 04, 2007 10:12 pm            

NIAGARA COUNTY: Weather presses tow trucks into service

Company responds to 40 calls in the area

Tow trucks had to turn away some stranded customers due to the weekend’s winter blast of snow, freezing temperatures and high winds.

Drivers in ditches and accidents took precedence over county residents who could not start their cars or get out of their driveways. They were told to wait until today.

“It was kind of crazy,” said Bill Harrington of Harrington’s Service in Lockport. “We got calls from Batavia to Buffalo and I said, ‘no way.’ There were a lot of people in ditches.”

Harrington’s four trucks made in access of 40 calls around the area. “We were pretty busy.”

Wind gusts reached 40 mph and chill factors dipped below zero in what Harrington called, “the worst of the year.”

“It was the worst in two years,” said Jeff Brahm of Niagara Towing on Packard Road. “We’ve been working like crazy. It’s quite a landslide.”

Many cars were blown off the I-190 and county roads. The Shawnee Road stretch between Mapleton Road and Niagara Falls Boulevard may have been the hardest hit.

“White-outs are causing all the problems,” Brahm said Sunday afternoon. “There were three accidents and cars in ditches. There’s still cars leaving the 190.”

The city of Niagara Falls uses 15 companies on a rotation basis. Towers who are not on the police list got fewer calls.

David Hillman of Hillman Towing got about three times as many calls from 4 p.m. Saturday to Sunday afternoon.

“Crosby Road, Rapids, Bowmiller and Dysinger are still pretty bad,” Hillman said. “It was really rough on us.”

Although there were cars in ditches, Hillman said, there were no serious accidents or serious rollovers.”

        

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