The National Guard came to the rescue of drivers stranded in blizzard-like conditions Thursday night in Renville County.
Local law enforcement requested its help after roads became impassable and dangerous due to drifting snow on a section of highway near Olivia, Minn. Gov. Tim Walz authorized the rescue, declaring a temporary peacetime state of emergency.
Jason Hirschman, a National Guard deputy staff sergeant, was among those called around 8 p.m. to aid stranded drivers. While driving to the Olivia, Minn., armory, he encountered the same conditions that had stopped many of the motorists.
"In my car I darn near didn't make it. The roads were completely covered. I'm just lucky there was no oncoming traffic, and I was able to blast through some of the drifts," Hirschman said.
On his way, he stopped to check on several stranded drivers, including an elderly couple and a car packed with college students.
"When I got farther out, there was a car stranded right in the southbound lane that had four college students in there," Hirschman said. "By the time time I got down [to the armory] they were getting ready to send us out to go recover them."
Hirschman drove a SUSV (Small Unit Support Vehicle) military vehicle used on the two rescues. He and another guard member recovered a total of eight stranded drivers, completing their second rescue mission around 3 a.m. Friday.
Snow drifts 5 to 6 feet deep posed the biggest threat to drivers over the past day, said Jason Matthig, the chief deputy at the Renville County Sheriff's department.
