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Wlaf1450‘This storm could be something like we’ve not dealt with in years’- County Road Superintendent Ron Dilbeck
By Charlotte Underwood
JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- The Campbell County Highway Department hosted a winter storm emergency planning meeting on Thursday morning to prepare for the anticipated major winter storm to hit this weekend.
Highway department employees, emergency management leaders, law enforcement, fire agency leaders, utility district managers, school leaders, the hospital’s emergency management director, the county vice mayor, among others were in attendance for the planning session.
The meeting came about after County Road Superintendent Ron Dilbeck and Vice Mayor Randy Brown had conversations Wednesday about the need to “share information” among the multiple agencies that would be out responding to the storm.
Dilbeck led the meeting, saying he felt like it was a good idea to have everyone on the same page for an action plan for the county.
“This looks like this storm could be something like we’ve not dealt with in years, and my main concern is the county and trying to help our citizens and keep them safe,” Dilbeck said. He also said he had several crews designated just for tree removal service in case it becomes an ice event, causing trees to come down around the county.
Dilbeck has also been in contact with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) regional director for additional support should the county need it.
“I called with some questions about if we have a major icing event, could we get some additional help from TEMA, and that is all in place if that happens,” Dilbeck said.
He asked people in the room to introduce themselves and let everyone know what the plan was for each department or agency.
Daniel Lawson Chief of the Campbell County Rural Fire Service (above) said once the weather turned bad, the agency would go into its “winter weather plan.”
“We will only respond to emergency calls and car accidents that need extraction. We will assist EMS as needed with getting to patients and getting patients out, as well as first responder calls if EMS gets overwhelmed, if it is a life-threatening emergency,” Lawson said, adding that the agency had four 4-wheel drive rescue units with EMS equipment and extrication equipment ready to go.
He said in the case of a fire, that the agency would possibly need the road department’s help to reach the location if the road conditions required it and that in the case of a rural fire, 911 dispatch knew to contact the road department as well.
Dilbeck asked if the rural fire service would be able to help with tree removal if needed, saying if ice hit the county, downed trees would be a main concern.
“If it gets to that, yes, we have four chainsaws and will do anything we can do to help open up the roadways,” Lawson said.
Campbell County Emergency Management Director Jay Muncy (above) said he would be in contact with all departments throughout the event. He is the contact guy for getting additional aid from the state and coordinating agencies within the county.
“If you have a need, please reach out and we will push it on to the state or other local entities and we will make it happen,” Muncy said. He also asked other agencies if they came across a car in the ditch, to mark it with yellow tape, so that if people call in about vehicles being off in ditch, agencies will not spend extra time checking on vehicles that have already been cleared.
“We go through a lot of duplicate calls in snow events,” Muncy said. He also told agencies to document everything they do in a snow event, such as “what utility poles go down, how many men and trucks are used, how much overtime is used, so that way if it is declared a disaster event”, the county might be able to recoup some of the costs of the extra man power and vehicle time.
Bruce Perkins Campbell County EMS Director (above) said his department would stay in contact with the road department when they need assistance with reaching emergency situations.
He warned that if the storm hits bad, especially if it is an icing event, his department will only be able to respond to emergency calls.
“You guys have always been good about getting us trucks and getting the roads clear so we can make it in. Our problem is if something like this truly hits, it will lock us down to emergency only, we will not be able to do discharge calls or take people back home, we will be responding to emergency calls only. It is all about safety, it is the safety of the crew and the safety of whoever is in the back of that truck,” Perkins said, adding that his department would stay in contact with the road department and with emergency management director Jay Muncy throughout the event.
Muncy also deals with all of the volunteer agencies such as Red Cross. He said a Red Cross trailer was at the EMS office to be deployed to different areas. Muncy told agencies and departments if they started to get overwhelmed to contact him and he would reach out to TEMA for assistance.
Muncy also said that if it got so bad that the I-75 shut down, he would be reaching out to Red Cross and opening two shelters for out of towners stranded on the interstate, those shelters would be located at Jellico High School and Caryville Elementary School. He said arrangements had been made with the school system to do this if it was needed. Those two schools are the closest to the interstate for first responders to transport stranded motorists.
“This storm is so difficult to judge, it is all over the place, but I will stay in contact with Red Cross, so if they have to roll and come in to set up these shelters, they have notice,” Muncy said. Agencies are also staying in contact with the National Weather Service, getting updates and briefings so they can mobilize these plans if needed.
Tennova LaFollette Medical Center Hospital Risk and Emergency Management Director Missy Turner (above) said the hospital will go down to the emergency entrance as its main access point, and that the hospital had “adequate supplies of oxygen” and had already gotten an extra shipment of other hospital supplies as well.
“Our priority is the emergency department entrance. Our staff knows and Bruce Perkins knows we will start shutting down the other entrances if it gets bad. Our priority for EMS, for law enforcement, is that Emergency Room Entrance, that will be the priority, even for the nursing home, that entrance will be the one we will work to maintain,” Turner said. She also reported that the hospital was expecting a delivery to top off both of its generators to maintain backup power if needed and the hospital was prepared to house employees and physicians which would be staying at the hospital “to meet the needs of the county.”
“If anyone calls, or you know of anyone who is on home oxygen, if they call their durable medical equipment (DME) company, they should be able to supply them with a larger supply of oxygen than normal because of the situation,” Turner said.
County Vice Mayor Randy Brown (above) said the event was about sharing information and “helping each other and the citizens of Campbell County to keep our friends and neighbors safe.” He encouraged the public to check on their neighbors, especially the elderly in the communities and others who might be at greater risk.
“I talked to Ray Perry with Pinnacle Resource Center (511 Main Street, Jacksboro) and he said the men’s shelter in Jacksboro would be opening up some emergency beds. This meeting is about sharing resources,” Brown said, adding that on the Jellico side of the mountain, he had heard the Jellico Rescue Squad would be opening up for people to come and get out of the weather.”
LaFollette Utility Board General Manager Regina Kennedy (above) said LUB had held a team meeting on Wednesday with all department heads and had gotten extra staff secured in all departments.
“We have extra personnel lined up to cover the plants to make sure everything is full, we have tree trimmer crews on standby. If the power goes, we will try to get it back on as quick as we can,” Kennedy said.
The utility has four-wheel drive utility trucks and side by sides to put in action to get to hard-to-reach areas in order to clear utility lines and get the power back on.
“We will do what we can to keep the lights on,” said LUB Electric Supervisor Darrell Leach (above).
Matthew Paul (above) with Powell Clinch Utility District said it would have four-wheel drive trucks and service techs on standby to respond to emergencies such as busted water lines and gas leaks.
Interim School Director of Schools Nancy Lay (above) said decisions about school would be on the “back end of the storm” and would depend on road conditions.
Captain Matt Wasson (above) with the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department said as long as the roads were clear enough, the sheriff’s department would be responding to calls as usual and that “everyone in the patrol division were in all wheel or four-wheel drive vehicles and that the department had seven side by sides that were strategically placed throughout the county to be available for use. He said if it got bad, then the department would go to emergency calls only and “would get there one way or another.”
“I am on call 24 hours a day, we will try to respond and help the best way we can,” Wasson said.
Before the meeting ended, prayer was said for the safety of citizens in the county and all those who will be working in the field to keep others safe.
Dilbeck (above) said the road department had been preparing for the weather all week and employees would be coming into the road department headquarters early Saturday morning.
“We may be here two or three days before we can go home; the main thing is everyone’s safety,” Dilbeck said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-01/23/2026-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)