Police work to free drivers stranded on I-5 in Oregon, California

ASHLAND, Ore. — Hundreds of cars and trucks stranded by a fast-moving snowstorm on Interstate 5's highest mountain pass were escorted to safety today after volunteers in snowmobiles brought food, water and gas to people stuck overnight in the cold.

A 57-year-old Oregon man stranded near the Siskiyou Summit died of a heart attack after helping other motorists put chains on their cars, authorities said. The man's name was not immediately released by state police.

Northbound lanes opened at 4 p.m. to vehicles with chains, and southbound lanes were expected to reopen under the same conditions at 8 p.m., said John Vial, district manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

"We just had unusually heavy holiday traffic," Vial said. "The call made to shut it down wasn't made in time. Those are tough decisions. We are not going to get all of them right."

Kevin Wyatt of Medford, his face smeared with soot, spent the night with a tow truck pulling cars and trucks out of snowbanks.

"It's just been miserable," Wyatt said. "They thought it was a light storm and it just came down super, super fast. After they got stuck we couldn't get up here fast enough. When it snows four inches in two minutes, you can't do nothing."

Vial estimated 250 to 500 vehicles were stranded overnight after the Siskiyou Pass was closed Sunday night. State police Lt. Kurt Barthel said the storm and traffic problems were the worst he has seen in 25 years working the Siskiyou Summit.

Volunteers from Jackson County Search and Rescue used snowmobiles to bring supplies to the hundreds of stranded drivers, most of whom carried no tire chairs.

On the California side of the border, stranded motorists were on their way south by 12:30 p.m. Monday, and there were no injuries or accidents to report, said Sgt. Don Jordan of the California Highway Patrol.

The California stretch of the freeway was expected to open by evening, Jordan said.

The National Weather Service said as much as 2 feet of snow had fallen along Interstate 5, which was shut down from Redding, Calif., to Ashland. State police said drifts were six to seven feet high at the summit.

Families stuck on the highway remained in their cars, and use their cell phones to call home.

Hope Peelle, of Puyallup, Wash., said she borrowed water from another driver to make formula for her 9-month-old daughter, and kept the bottle warm with her body heat. She and her husband, Victor Vega, were on their way home from visiting relatives in Ontario, Calif. The family filled up their digital camera with snow pictures, and turned the heater on intermittently to keep warm.

"I can tell you this: I'm flying next time," Vega said as they were escorted down the mountain.

Trucker Dave Strong of Roseburg had been on the highway since Sunday evening.

"A car slid out in front of us, and stopped, and that was the end of that story," Strong said.

Jorge Company of Olympia, Wash., spent the night near the summit watching DVD's on his laptop and making friends with other stranded drivers. When he woke up in the morning, the snow was up to his car windows.

About 250 people who were able to get back down the mountain spent Sunday night at the Southern Oregon University gymnasium, said Perry Prince of the Red Cross.

Elsewhere in Oregon, Pendleton received about 6 inches of snow — the most the city has seen in one single storm in nearly a decade. Portland got a dusting during the morning rush hour, causing traffic tie-ups across the metro area, but by early afternoon the sun was shining.

In Salem, about 42,000 Portland General Electric GE customers were without power and traffic was snarled after 6 inches of snow fell.