Rogers Group Experts in Crushed Stone, Aggregates, Gravel, Asphalt Paving, Road Construction, Quarries for 100 Years

Rogers Group Employee Assists Flood Rescue Mission

- from Aggregates Manager Magazine, September 1998

Russ Mathews, a working foreman at Rogers Group Gallatin, Tennessee quarry, knows how to put a pit loader to good use.

Matthews recently worked with rescue workers to help pull area resident Joann York from a flooded roadway during recent heavy rains.

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In honor of his accomplishment Rogers Group presented him with "The Rogers Way Good Citizen Award" and an American Express gift check for his efforts in helping rescue workers pull a woman from a flooded highway during heavy rains.

Another Rogers employee, Julie Whittington, also received the same award for her quick thinking in contacting Matthews for assistance after seeing fire trucks cruising toward the scene.York had ventured onto Station Camp Creek Road near Gallatin, Tenn., approximately 30 minutes northwest of Nashville. The roadway was covered with swift-moving water when her car stalled in the middle of the road.

Julie Whittington, a community relations specialist for Rogers Group, was at a nearby soccer field when she noticed a fire truck go by with its siren blaring. Suspecting something was wrong, Whittington called the quarry office and asked Matthews, who was checking the haul ramps in the mining area, to drive to the scene of the mishap and see if there was anything he could do to help. Whittington also received "The Rogers Way Good Citizen Award" and an American Express gift check for her quick action. Matthews and Mark McGee, a loader operator with Rogers Group, drove down Station Camp Creek Road to the nearby railroad tracks (approximately 1,000 ft). There they saw members of the Number One Fire Department and the Sumner County Sheriff's Department walking up the railroad embankment searching for the car or its driver. The water was rising at the rate of approximately an inch per minute and had already flooded the road well past the railroad area.

Matthews offered rescue personnel the use of any of Rogers Group's high clearance equipment or any other resources to help. A sheriff's deputy requested the use of a pit loader to reach York and her stalled automobile. Matthews asked McGee to return to the quarry and bring back a pit loader. When McGee returned approximately three to four minutes later, Matthews climbed into the cab of the loader to ferry the rescue workers to the stalled car. A fireman handed Matthews one of their hand-held radios and told him if they had trouble, to call for help.

Two sheriff's deputies and two firemen mounted the catwalk on the loader. Matthews, still unable to see York's car, proceeded to drive toward the expected location of the automobile. Another fireman, attempting to locate the car or driver, had walked across the railroad and through a field on the east side of Station Camp Creek. Unable to proceed any farther on foot, the fireman also mounted the loader. Matthews navigated the pit loader approximately 1/4 mile only able to go at a speed of 3 to 5 mph. Unable to see normal landmarks, Matthews was using only instinct and prior knowledge of the road to steer the pit loader.

The group proceeded until they saw the back end of York's car. At this time, the water was at about 2-1/2 ft deep and continuing to rise. Matthews stopped the loader so it would not send waves of water toward the car. The sheriff's deputies and firemen dismounted the loader and headed for the car. York was inside and appeared to be all right, but scared. The deputies opened the driver's door while the firemen secured a safety harness around York. The water had risen half way above the side of the car at this point.

The firemen removed York from the car, walked her back to the loader and helped her climb the ladder to the catwalk. The firemen fastened another safety harness around York, safely securing her to the loader railing. The rescue personnel then remounted the loader and Matthews was given the all clear to take everyone to safety.

With no safe area in which to turn the large loader around, Matthews had to drive approximately 1/4 mile in reverse with six people standing on the catwalks. He then was able to maneuver the equipment around and drive in a forward direction the remaining 200 yd to safety. During the time of the rescue, the water had risen several more feet. Within 10 to 15 minutes of rescuing York from her vehicle, the car was covered with water over the hood.

Once they had reached a safe "dismount" area, the firemen unharnessed York and she was taken to an ambulance for observation. Matthews drove the loader back to the quarry and finished his rounds from earlier in the day.