|
|
Post by Admin on Feb 2, 2017 16:13:42 GMT -7
Sheriff’s Office vehicle swiped by semi in storm |
|
|
|
Post by Q on Feb 4, 2017 9:05:24 GMT -7
Saturday, February 4, 2017
The Livingston Enterprise
ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Updating procedures for closing I-90 should be priority
Published by Enterprise Staff on Fri, 02/03/2017 - 3:18pm
Lt. Tom Totland walked away from this one.
He’ll attend his son’s basketball game today in Belgrade and return to work after his day off from the Park County Sheriff’s Office.
But looking back, he might tell you, “That was a close one.”
Totland responded to an accident Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 90, only to have his parked patrol rig severely damaged by a semi-trailer driving through the area of the crash scene. Thankfully, Totland wasn’t inside his patrol vehicle when it was struck, and he wasn’t injured.
The job of law enforcement officers is rife with unknowns. While most people tend to head away from dangerous situations, law enforcement goes for the center of the storm and confronts the bad actors of our society and everything Mother Nature can throw at them.
Think about it.
Few people would have wanted to head into Tuesday’s storm to untangle the myriad accidents throughout that evening. And emergency responders have faced the elements more than once this winter as blizzards shut down Interstate 90 — once during the Christmas break, again during the New Year holiday, and finally, the eastbound lane following Totland’s close call.
The fact that Totland is unharmed is wonderful news.
But what’s clear in the recent spate of interstate closures is that local emergency responders and the Montana Department of Transportation must address outdated response plans and get on the same page when it comes to how and when they close I-90.
We’ve all seen the long chain of semis crawling through town this winter. And some of us have listened in recent weeks as tensions ran high on the police scanner, with local emergency responders rankled with repeated communication breakdowns between the various agencies involved in shutting down the interstate.
One would think it to be a pretty straightforward process.
Turns out, it’s not.
The process is brimming with bureaucracy and each agency has its own “plan” for closing the interstate. Our local emergency responders may close the interstate under certain instances but MDT is ultimately in charge of such matters.
To further tangle the issue, emergency responders in Park County are working to coordinate with their counterparts in Sweet Grass and Stillwater counties, while also coordinating with two MDT districts in Billings and Bozeman.
Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office are pulled all different directions during blizzards and interstate closures, as officers are needed not only to man the closure but also to respond to accidents.
Park, Sweet Grass and Stillwater counties as well as MDT must find common ground, update their plans and better coordinate for interstate closures in the future, all while considering the possibility that the Montana Highway Patrol and MDT face possible budget cuts during the ongoing legislative session.
It’s no easy task and there are many factors that must be taken into consideration, yet representatives from Park and the surrounding counties came together this week to begin discussions on updating their plans and better coordinating and communicating for future interstate closures.
That’s a great start. Emergency responders will always face an element of uncertainty when putting themselves in harm’s way. But any chance to better coordinate between agencies and protect those in uniform should be a priority, as we want them all to return home to their families at the end of every shift.
— Justin Post
Enterprise Managing Editor
Category:
Editorials
|
|
