Indiana county seeks volunteers for winter response help

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. - A rural northeastern Indiana county has issued a callout for volunteers with vehicles that travel well in snow and ice.

Whitley County Emergency Management Director Charles Heflin wants a team of 30 or more volunteers with four-wheel drive trucks, tractors, snowmobiles and similar vehicles to join a winter operations support team. He's called a Thursday evening meeting to recruit members.

Heflin says a team member might transport paramedics to medical emergencies or law enforcement officers to crime or accident scenes in the county directly west of Fort Wayne.

WPTA-TV and WANE-TV report team members would have to pass police background checks.

Team members would be eligible to for benefits such as mileage reimbursement and insurance.