Snow Fighters

Who needs sleep? Apparently not the 32 snowplow drivers and sanders who are battling the for the town of Canton.

Out for 30 to 35 hours straight, "these guys are animals," , Operations Manager of the Canton DPW said from his site's headquarters on Bolivar Street. "These guys would stand up to any military unit."

The crew, which kicked off their day at 9:00 a.m. today, will work straight through the storm, taking an hour cat nap if possible, Teague said.  "When they're done, they're zombies and they just go home and sleep."

Storms are what keeps his crew motivated. "This is the primary reason these guys exist--to fight storms," Teague said Sunday. "There's nobody that can do it like they do it."

The cost of a storm cleanup is not known yet, since the cost will vary according to how much salt and sand is used, and how much snow actually hits Canton, the operations manager said. "Typically, we overrun our snow budget every single year but you have to have public safety."

The Canton crew consists of six foremen, one superivsor and the operations manager, along with the truck drivers. The DPW will often asist the Canton Police and Fire Departments during a storm.

Teauge said caffeine and food will get the guys through the storm. "It's the nature of our beast...we just deal with it," he said of the intense schedule.  "It's just plowing, plowing, plowing until we're done chasing flakes."