Everyday Seattle Tow Hero Is Recognized

Kudos to Ron "Bubba" Peters! Here's the story from www.todaystrucking.com:

SEATTLE -- A Seattle tow-truck driver who simultaneously froze and worked off his butt for 20 hours in a snowstorm to save two buses from crashing over the side of a ramp and onto cars below finally got the recognition he deserves.

Ron "Bubba" Peters, 45, who has been driving tow truck for a dozen years, was called to the scene of a bus crash in December 2008, in downtown Seattle.

Sure, it's not real trucking, but his in-cab actions are as heroic as any highway hero you've ever heard about.

The city was experiencing an unusually wicked snowstorm and three highway buses full of students had all lost control on a hill. They slid down the hill and two of them wound up hanging over the lip of an onramp, a busy interstate below.

While the students scrambled out the emergency exits and windows, recovery teams went into action.

Peters, a former high-school football coach now with Ken’s Towing, says the front of one of the buses dangled above Interstate 5 "for hours" before he was able to tow it to safety.  

"It was the most intense thing I ever experienced," he told todaystrucking.com

The reason Bubba’s story came to our attention is that his efforts have won him a terrific prize in a "How tough is your job contest?" sponsored by the Cintas the uniform people, Carhartt Jeans, and Ducks Unlimited.

Here’s part of Bubba’s recollection of the event with which he won over the contest judges:

"I have never worked so hard in all my 30 years of working. My Carhartt 'Duck' bibs kept me warm the 20 hours I worked on this recovery in below-freezing conditions.

"I have worn them out and can't afford a new pair."

He can now. As he gets $500 in Carhartt merchandise.

And there’s still time to enter the contest, if you think you’re up to it, click here. 

As for Bubba, he says the real hero of the story is the missus.

"Tow-truck wives are the best in the world because they can put up with everything," he told us. "They’re incredible."

We think our readers here at tt.com can somehow relate.