Kane Co. snowmobile clubs help when going gets tough
Justin Scheck watched his gas gauge dip while the snow drifts rose around his 2003 Buick Century Tuesday night, unsure of what to do.
Scheck, his fiancee and her two kids, 5 and 3, and their grandmother were stuck because of a jackknifed semitrailer at Route 47 and Route 20 near Pingree Grove.
After five hours, help arrived — but it wasn’t a cop or firefighter or tow truck driver.
Volunteers from the Hampshire White Riders, one of several private snowmobile clubs working with the Kane County Emergency Management Agency, arrived to bring them to a nearby gas station where there was food, shelter and restrooms.
The rescuers told Scheck he was car number 63 that was being helped.
“Everybody’s gas was getting low. They came with blankets to give to the kids,” said Scheck, who later led a round of applause for the rescue teams at the gas station. “They were so genuine and they were so wonderful.”
Added Jessica Carrasquillo: “They saved my kids’ lives. We would have been stranded with no heat, no food. It was scary, but there were good people helping us. God bless them.”
The club sent nine riders to help bring stranded motorists in about 75 vehicles to safety from 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday at the BP station, 15N454 Route 47, Pingree Grove, where firefighters and paramedics set up a temporary triage.
Club member Terry Wellmann said some sleeping motorists didn’t want to leave their vehicles, believing help would arrive soon or the road would be plowed.
Others, mainly those who were unprepared for the storm, were incredulous or angry help took so long to arrive.
Most, Wellmann said, were grateful for help as the wicked winds created whiteout conditions and drifts from 6 to 10 feet snared cars and trucks.
Club members drank soda but mostly ran on adrenaline; one member brought a 2-year-old girl with diabetes some orange juice and snacks.
“Everybody thinks snowmobilers are renegades, out ripping up the streets,” Wellmann said. “You had nine guys leave the comfort of home in the middle of the night. If you asked any of the guys, they would be happy to go out and do it again.”
Ephrem Lazar, who co-owns the BP station with his brother, said there were still more than a dozen people stranded as the station early Wednesday afternoon. At one point, there were more than 100 people in the 3,500-square-foot building.
Dwain Stadie, a Hampshire resident and president of the Hampshire White Riders, said the club was on standby for the 1999 blizzard, but hadn’t had to help authorities on such a large scale since the 1970s.
Stadie and Wellmann said many motorists offered to give the snowmobilers money in return. Club members refused, asking drivers to make a donation to the Hampshire Food Pantry in the club’s name instead.
Stadie hopes motorists will heed warnings next time and be more prepared with coats, gloves and blankets. “It was just a bear to see anything,” he recalled. “It looked like the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert. Even the state’s snow plows were stuck.”
The Elburn-based DeKane Sno-Trackers also had more than a dozen volunteers scouting the roads Tuesday night and Wednesday, taking stranded motorists to area firehouses and police stations.
DeKane President Leesa Hansen couldn’t estimate how many motorists her club members rescued, but she was happy they had a chance to help.
“They were riding right down the middle of (Routes) 47 and 64,” Hansen said. “Snowmobiling gets a really bad rap. When we do stuff like this and get recognition, it’s awesome. We’re not all just hotshots. We respect the trails we ride on and we want people to respect us.”