Staff writer
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| JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Mitchell Copstead, left, a firefighter with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, levels out freshly laid gravel in a driveway with the help of other firefighters at a Post Falls home Friday. |
Off-duty responders fix driveway for single dad with disabled son
POST FALLS -- When Robert Blythe saw emergency responders arriving at his home this time, he had a smile.
Several off-duty employees of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue on Friday laid gravel on the muddy, hole-ridden dirt driveway of the single dad's home in a Post Falls trailer park off Maplewood Avenue.
An ambulance has responded to the residence several times to assist Blythe's disabled 21-year-old son Steven, and it's nearly gotten stuck in the driveway, putting the transport time in jeopardy.
"I'll be so glad to get rid of this mud pit," a visibly appreciative Blythe said while watching the work party. "I think it's fantastic. As a single parent, I just don't have a lot of time and finances to get to it."
Blythe had coffee brewed for the workers and called The Press to spread the word about the good deed.
Mitchell Copstead of Local 2856, KCFR's firefighter union that organized project, said the idea was brought up at the group's meeting on Tuesday and members unanimously decided to act.
"We saw a need," he said. "Obviously, he's having a tough time."
"Robert kept saying how he was sorry about the mud and talked about how he'd like to get gravel. When he'd call us, 10 people would track in mud."
Copstead said the driveway was so muddy that, in addition to almost getting stuck, responders had difficulties even getting the gurney into the house.
"It was really thick mud," he said.
Copstead said it was an opportunity for the union to use its resources. One worker supplied a Bobcat, another a dump truck, and Rock Hound gave the union a deal on the 7 yards of gravel.
Steven has cerebral palsy and a lung disease. The last time KCFR responded to assist him was on Monday when he had a high heart rate. Blythe said the rate is now under control and he hopes his son will return home Monday.
"If they have to come back again -- and they get stuck -- they'd have to call another ambulance and that 15 minutes could be the difference between life and death," Blythe said, referring to the former muddy driveway.
Blythe said he just got his home certified to care for Steven in lieu of working as a building contractor. Blythe said the driveway is one less thing he has to worry about, thanks to the union.
"You expect firefighters to be there for emergencies, but you don't think of the other things they do," Blythe said.
