Dramatic Rescue By MnDOT Snowplow Operator

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has released information about a dramatic rescue by a MnDOT snowplow operator last month. Jeffrey Holte was plowing stretch of I-94 in northwestern Minnesota during the winter storm that hit the state on February 20 when he witnessed a car slide out of control and roll into the ditch. A woman in her 20s, who did not have on a coat, gloves, or boots, climbed out of the car and ran to Holte’s snowplow. She frantically explained that her boyfriend was trapped inside the car, which had become packed snow when the rear window broke out as a vehicle slid into the snow-filled ditch backwards at around 50-mph. Holte says he found himself facing a solid wall of snow when he managed to open one of the car’s doors. He dug out the snow by hand and managed to uncover the man’s face after he found him suspended upside down in the drivers seat.

“I know any other MnDOT employee would have done the same thing, but it makes me feel good that I happened to be in the right place at the right time to assist them,” Holte said.

The man was cold, but otherwise unharmed, after Holte finished digging out the snow and freed him from the overturned car.