An ice storm that hit Harford County early Sunday morning has caused more accidents than there are resources available to handle them and "paralyzed" the county.
Because of icy roads that were impassable in some areas, emergency responders were having difficulty getting to the numerous accidents around the county.
"The entire county is paralyzed due to ice conditions," Harford County Fire & EMS Association media page said on Facebook.
One of the earliest accidents Sunday morning was fatal, near the intersection of Route 23 and High Point Road, where three other people were injured, according to Harford Fire Blog's Facebook page.
As of about 9 a.m., Harford department of public works crews were being called in, according to Cindy Mumby, spokesperson for Harford County Government. The county was expected to have 20 trucks on the road, five trucks per section, shortly,.
"They will deal with conditions as advised," she said. "There won't be mass salting, they'll be hitting areas where they're advised are slippery conditions."
The National Weather Service advised the Harford County Emergency Operations Center around 9:30 a.m. that the freezing rain and ice advisories would continue for Harford County until 11 a.m., according to Edward Hopkins, director of the Harford Department of Emergency Services.
Both he and Mumby said this morning's weather was unexpected.
"As of midnight, it was only rain called for," Mumby said. "Rain was predicted and it's turned into this in some areas. We were going off predictions and they're monitored very closely."
Hopkins said the weather patterns changed around 7 a.m. His staff reporting for work at 7 a.m. encountered few problems on their way in, but shortly after that began getting multiple calls for accidents.
The EOC was activated to Level 3 this morning, which means personnel will help manage the ice event, Hopkins said.
Every fire company in the county was responding to multiple calls.
In some instances, emergency equipment is having difficulty getting to accident scenes.
"They're getting there, but it's very slow going because it's quite unpredictable. In some areas there is black ice. It's taking considerable time to get there," Hopkins said.
Even if the roads are passable, emergency responders are encountering ice on driveways and sidewalks, which further slow their response.
According to the Fire & EMS page, "providers are having to park their units and walk to check on accidents and passengers of vehicles This creates additional hazards for providers to slipping and falling on the ice."
At least two pieces of Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company's equipment have been involved in accidents.
On Hickory Avenue in Bel Air, a fire truck knocked out power to the area. And a medic unit was involved in a crash on Tollgate Road, Hopkins, a member of the fire company, said. No injuries were reported in either of those.
According to the Fire & EMS page, fire department and EMS resources "are stretched to the max with the ice event. There are more events than resources. Please stay off the road and stay where you are."
Among the roads considered impassable were Baltimore Pike at Lake Fanny Hill south of Bel Air and Jarrettsville Road near High Point. Route 1 at Reckord Road was shut down because of ice.
The following is a list of crashes reported by Fire & EMS Facebook page and Harford Fire Blog:
Thomas Run and Pennington roads near Campus Hills; Route 1 and Old Joppa Road south of Bel Air; Laurel Bush and Wheel roads in Emmorton; Route 1 at Deer Creek Bridge near Darlington; Baldwin Mill Road and Bucks Lane in Fallston; Route 23 and Norrisville Road in Jarrettsville; Carsins Run Road at Stepney Road in Aberdeen; Post Road and Old Bay Lane in Havre de Grace; Magnolia Road in Joppa; Route 1 and Sandy Hook Road in Street; Tollgate Road in Bel Air; Route 24 and Otter Creek Ramp in Edgewood; Mountain Road in Joppa; and Main Street in Darlington.