Over three hundred people at a climate action conference had to be rescued on Thursday, March 13 after a heavy snow storm left them stranded at a camp near Big Bear.
The group began to leave YMCA Camp Whittle in Fawnskin, where the conference was held, walking through roughly two feet of snow in an attempt to get to an area where the roads were clear enough for buses to wait.
Initially, those buses were stuck in the snow, and that caught the eye of firefighters, including Captain Anthony Muscarello. The buses happened to be stuck near San Bernardino County Fire Station 96, almost two miles from the camp.
“Within a few minutes, we had a couple hundred people standing in a blizzard in front of our station, waiting to get on these buses that were getting stuck and didn’t know the best way to get down,” Muscarello said.
They opened up Station 96 and let people warm up as Muscarello and his colleagues tried to help figure out the best way for the seven buses to get down the mountain. As more and more people trickled down from the camp towards the station, with others still stranded at the camp, the firefighters realized that with waning daylight, something had to be done to assist them.
The camp had run out of food, as only enough for the days of the conference, scheduled to end early that morning, had been prepared.
“It took them like an hour to walk down in a blizzard, in two feet of snow, and these people weren’t really prepared for anything of that nature, so we hopped in our snow cat,” Muscarello said. “We told the YMCA to have them start walking, because we were going to have to do two or three trips and if they were walking, it would cut down some of the time to get everyone to safety before dark.”
“Heard you guys needed a ride,” Muscarello can be heard saying in a video the department shared of the rescue on X as he and another member of the fire department pulled up to a group that had remained stuck at the camp. The group packs into the department’s snow cat, holding bags and pillows.
Later, seated in a bus, one group appears to be in fine spirits, cheering when asked if they were “all good.”
But the episode wasn’t entirely over yet.
As the buses, now loaded with passengers, made their way down the mountain, two buses got stuck on Highway 18 and had to be assisted. At that point, some passengers just decided to bail out and find other rides.
Ultimately, no injuries were reported, but Muscarello said the rescues underscore the importance of winter preparedness in the snowy San Bernardino Mountains.
“Bus companies come up and they’re inexperienced in the mountain areas and don’t have experience with the road or driving in snow or have enough chains for all the tires of their buses,” Muscarello said. “That all adds up to a lot of factors that can be a big problem and create a disaster and put … people at risk with no shelter and no place to go.”
The fire department also urges individual motorists to be prepared when they come up in the winter.
“County Fire reminds drivers to use snow chains, and to have fresh water and supplies ready in case your vehicle becomes stranded,” the agency said on X.