South Lake Tahoe firefighters rescue family stranded in snow for hours

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Two members of the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) family came to the rescue of a family of four stranded in the mountains north of Lake Tahoe.

Leo Gebhardt and Blake Sturdivan were off duty and driving to a training when they turned a stressful and dangerous situation into one where a family is safe because of their actions.

Over the last weekend in March, Paul and Chris Harper were headed out on an adventure with their two children, 10-year Emi and 4-year-old Ollie. They were going to check out the cinder cones in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

"We turned to Forest Route 32 N 21 (near junction of highways 89 and 44) and started driving on a small road, said Chris. "Little by little, there was more snow on the ground. But, we figured since our car was an all-wheel drive, we could make it. But as we drove into the mountains, the snow got thicker. We started to hesitate going further and all of the sudden, we got stuck!"

There was no cell reception in the remote area so Chris and Paul spent four hours trying to help the wheels get traction, but nothing worked. By then, it was getting colder and later in the day. Knowing they had to get help before having to spend the night in the car, Paul started walking out to the main road to get help while Chris stayed in the car with the two kids and the family dogs.

"It was getting cold, so I would occasionally turn the engine on to heat up the car and turn it off to save the gas and battery," said Chris. "We didn't know how long Paul would be gone for, and we were very worried about him."

At the other end, Paul walked for about 45 minutes and reached the road. Nine cars passed without responding to his waves for help. He was 11 miles from the nearest service station so he started walking in hopes there'd be cell reception at that point. Paul noticed a fire department vehicle heading toward him on the road and flagged it down.

Inside the truck were Gebhardt and Sturdivan. They picked up Paul and headed to stranded family.

"Blake and Leo were so kind to stop and pick Paul up. We were so happy to see them," said Chris.

Without any towing materials in their vehicle, the SLTFR firefighters improvised and pulled the car out of the snow and got the Harper family on their way.

“The Fire Department has made a concerted effort to build a culture of compassion and professionalism. It brings the City pride to see that our members embrace their service to the community regardless if they’re on duty or off, said SLTFR Chief Clive Savacool.”

"We kept thinking about how awful the night could have been, had we missed Blake and Leo by one minute. Blake and Leo are truly angels and we will never forget them," said Chris.