Fountain crews spend the rainy week preparing for the upcoming snow removal season

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) -- It won't be long before this week's rainfall turns into snow and ice, so crews are spending the week preparing for colder weather conditions.

This marks the fifth year for the city's snow school, which teaches drivers how to handle a snowplow and maintain equipment during snow events.

This year, a dozen drivers are participating in the training, which is exactly what's needed for a full call-out for snow events—something some municipal public works departments still haven't been able to do consistently since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adam Carpenter, a training supervisor, said that the city is relying more on younger, less-experienced drivers this year.

"Some of our experienced drivers have transitioned out to their next phases in life," he explained. "And so, we've got some new ones in. But [of]the new ones that we do have in, we've brought in two that actually have many years of plowing and winter and public works service under their belt already."

One of the newer drivers is Dan Arroliga, who's in his second year with the department.

He said he has enjoyed learning to use a snowplow and has fun during snow events, while remembering to be careful.

"The hardest thing is just understanding the size of the truck that you're driving, and just the plow and the sand, and understanding that just even from what you can see, it's probably about double the size, you know, as far as what you've got to manage and pay attention to," he said.

For the upcoming season, crews will be able to plow a mile-long stretch of Southmoor Drive, near the maintenance facility, for the first time since it closed in 2020 because of erosion concerns.

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