Fire Chief: Leave Early, Pack Necessities If You Have To Go Out

Lack of caution and a failure to pay close attention to surroundings are frequent causes of trouble in snowy conditions.

Livingston Fire Chief Rocky Dial said people should plan leave early if they absolutely must go somewhere over the next few days. Dial said driving too fast because of a time-crunch often leads to sliding through an intersection and causing an accident.

“Make sure that you get your car or your vehicle warmed up and all of the glass is cleaned off where you’ll have good visibility, make sure your cell phone is charged, have some clothes in there in case you do get stuck or slide off the road so that you can stay warm,” Dial said.

Dial acknowledged that while he urges people to stay home if possible, some people have no choice but to get to work.

“The ice and the road conditions, you know, they’re slick,” Dial said. “When people come up to intersections, they don’t give their time for the condition of the road to stop, and they’ll slide through the intersection into the oncoming car and create an accident.”

He said Livingston offers a service to emergency personnel can be driven to work by the police department.

“If you don’t need to be out today, stay home,” Dial said. “Of course, it’s a holiday, so most people are at home, so if you don’t have to be out, stay home. If you have to be at work, leave early and take your time. Here in the city, we are doing transports for emergency personnel such as our hospital, nursing home, places like that where they have to have people staffed.”

Dial said law enforcement will take any emergency workers anywhere within city limits if they do not feel comfortable driving.