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November 26, 2008

Region slides into winter-like mess

Numerous accidents the result of snowy, slushy area highways

By KIM SMITH DEDAM

ELIZABETHTOWN — A wintry blend of snow and rain turned treacherous Tuesday, as about six inches of snow condensed into an ice-coated slush.

Essex County first-responders attended to numerous accidents through the morning commute and long into the day.

"They've been all over the place, from one end of the county to the other," said Emergency Services Deputy Director Donald Jacquish.

SCHOOL BUS CRASH
About 10:26 a.m., a school bus carrying students from Ticonderoga Central School collided with a truck about halfway down Lincoln Pond hill, a winding, steep road connecting the towns of Moriah and Elizabethtown.

Jacquish said the small school bus was going south toward Ticonderoga and began to climb the hill just past Lincoln Pond.

"As they went up a real steep hill, they got stuck; the wheels were spinning. The bus ended up angled on the roadway. A pickup truck coming down the hill was unable to stop and hit the bus."

The bus had eight passengers, Jacquish said, including teenagers and some younger students.

Both vehicles sustained severe front-end damage.

"They aren't going to be driving them home," Jacquish said shortly after leaving the accident site.

Ticonderoga Central School Transportation Coordinator Michael Vigliotti said the bus was taking Yandon-Dillon Educational Center students from a class in Elizabethtown back to the Mineville school.

"Our information is that no one was hurt. It was a fender-bender on Lincoln Pond Hill," Vigliotti said.

Yandon-Dillon sent a second bus to pick up the students, who were headed back to school by 11:20 a.m.

Elizabethtown-Lewis Ambulance Squad called both rigs into service, with Mineville/Witherbee on alert and Westport Ambulance standing by.

POWER OUTAGES
Despite the slick roads, most schools remained open in Essex County, with many on shortened schedules ahead of Thanksgiving break.

There was a one-hour delay at Minerva Central School, which had a full school day scheduled Tuesday.

School receptionist Lynn Green said the delay was due to weather and power outages.

About 450 National Grid customers in Minerva and Johnsburg, just over the line in Warren County, were without power Tuesday as heavy, wet snow weighed down lines and tree limbs.

BUSY DISPATCHERS
Police dispatchers received a steady stream of accident reports as the day wore on.

Shortly after noon, a jeep collided with a logging truck on the Newcomb-North Hudson town line on the Blue Ridge Road, but town officials said ambulance calls were canceled. A one-car rollover occurred about 1:30 p.m. on Interstate 87 southbound, north of exit 30, leaving one person injured. Elizabethtown-Lewis Ambulance Squad responded again.

At the same time, a car went off the road on Route 73 near the twin bridges in Keene.

State Police are investigating the accidents.

QUIET ELSEWHERE
In sharp contrast, the mix turned to rain in Clinton County.

"Temperatures are above freezing and rising," Clinton County Emergency Services Director Eric Day said about noon.

"We haven't had any major accidents."

Conditions were similar in Franklin County.

"We haven't had one word for a request for assistance all day," said Emergency Services Deputy Director Ricky Provost.

"Saranac Lake got some snow, and they've had crews out, but no one has required help from us."

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com

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