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Winter weather strikes quickly
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MONROE - Terry Rutsch, owner of Don's Towing & Automotive, Monroe, had a busy evening Thursday.

An early season snow storm caused a flurry of crashes, vehicles sliding into ditches and treacherous conditions across Green County, he said.

"I was even sliding with my truck," he said of his heavy-duty tow truck.

Starting at about 5 p.m. calls began coming across the dispatch scanner of reports that vehicles were sliding around on county and city roads, including a two-vehicle crash on Wisconsin 69 near Hill Lane. The crash shut down that stretch of highway between County DR and County FF from about 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., according to Green County Sheriff's dispatch personnel.

Rutsch was called to the scene to haul the mangled vehicles away, he said. The two vehicles now sit in his shop.

He said it appeared icy conditions on Wis. 69 likely played a part in the two-vehicle crash.

Up to four inches of snow accumulation was predicted by the National Weather Service, Thursday.

Throughout the evening numerous calls for help were made to the dispatch center, and county and city plow crews were sent out to clear ice from the roads.

The trucks salting the roads made a huge difference, but the inconsistent snow accumulation and icing on the roads made driving treacherous, Rutsch said.

"You go to a certain spot and the roads are covered in snow, you go a little further and there is nothing," he said.

In addition to the Wis. 69 crash, Rutsch made about four stops to haul vehicles away, and he anticipated a few more. Don's is typically called by the Monroe Police and Green County Sheriff's Department when vehicles need to be towed from a scene.

A representative of the Sheriff's department was not immediately available with more information regarding the condition of the occupants of the vehicles involved in the Wis. 69 crash.

Though Rutsch did not think the snow event was severe, it was still enough to cause problems.

"Once it snows, people need to slow up," he said.