Firefighters in north Clark County had a busy Friday morning responding to vehicle crashes due to icy roads, and those conditions may repeat at least once more as near-freezing temperatures were forecasted overnight into Saturday.
The National Weather Service issued a short-term forecast early Friday morning about frost in areas of the county. Forecasters warned drivers of slick roads and freezing fog, which somewhat cleared up as morning shifted to afternoon.
Temperatures stayed colder for longer in the northern parts of the county. Fire District 3 Cpt. Larry Bauske said the thermometer at a fire station in Hockinson still read 31 degrees at 10:30 a.m.
Bauske said District 3 firefighters were dispatched to three separate crashes over an hour starting at 5:30 a.m. According to emergency dispatch logs, the crashes were reported as rollovers, but the fire captain said none of the incidents were serious or caused much of a disruption to the morning commute.
He said it was very icy, however.
“The roads were icy to the point where firefighters were having trouble standing,” Bauske said.
Responders mainly focused on traffic control. The people involved in the crashes mostly needed help getting out of wherever they were stuck, he said.
The crashes happened at Northeast 279th Street and Boutelle Road, the 27600 block of Northeast 147th Avenue and near the intersection of Northeast 87th Avenue and 219th Street.
Clark County Fire & Rescue assisted with the response at 219th, said Chief John Nohr. The crash initially came in as a double rollover, but arriving crews found one vehicle resting on its roof, Nohr said.
The arm of the driver, a young man, was pinned underneath the vehicle. Firefighters secured the car using struts and blocks, and then used power tools to cut the roof from around the man’s arm, Nohr said.
The man’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. He was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, according to the fire chief.
CCFR firefighters were called to the scene of three other crashes, all of which were non-injury and involved vehicles sliding off the roadway.
While police, medics and fire officials ran around helping ditch-diving drivers, the Battle Ground School District announced that it was delaying the school day by two hours. It ended up canceling morning preschool, stopped running its Skills Center buses and closing the north schools for the entire day.
Temperatures were forecasted to dip once more overnight. The weather service reported a 20 percent chance of rain before 5 a.m. Saturday and a low temperature of 35 degrees for Vancouver.
Things will warm up a bit starting Saturday, at least enough to possibly avoid more ice on the roads. Saturday’s high temperature is 44 degrees, and the mercury should fall just a few degrees at night. Similar temperatures are forecasted through Christmas Day.
Rain is likely through at least Christmas Eve, the weather service said.
