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Sequim still digging out of several inches of snow

Contractors with heavy equipment are working long hours in Sequim trying to free their stuck neighbors.

Sequim is still digging out from several inches of snow as people work long hours trying to free their stuck neighbors.

“It’s been nonstop,” said Bill Wheeler, who was lucky enough to have rented a tractor before multiple rounds of snow buried his town.

Wheeler, who owns a construction business specializing in flooring, has been helping plow private roads and free frozen vehicles for days.

“We just have that sense of community,” he said while preparing to head out on another call with Robert Denk, one of his workers, Thursday.

“Whatever needs to be done, there’s a lot of old people in this town who need to get out and get food,” said Denk.

RELATED: Homeowners are required to clear snow from sidewalks

They loaded their tractor on a trailer and headed to a senior housing building, where cement-like wet snow trapped Ginger Huddleston’s Honda.

“Well, it’s been over a week,” Huddleston said, while Denk and Wheeler chipped away at the snow and ice and loaded the chunks into their tractor’s bucket.

Several minutes later, Huddleston was able to back her car out, but she wasn’t sure if she should leave her parking lot.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to go anyplace,” she said.

Some side streets and parking lots are still coated in snow and ice as plow crews are working to clear it all away.

Sequim schools remained closed Thursday because bus routes were not safe for travel. A survey revealed roughly half of their staff were unable to get to work easily.

RELATED: Seattle schools back to normal operations Friday; other districts uncertain

The district announced classes would be canceled Friday, as well.

"Over half of snow routes are under inaccessible conditions right now," the district said in a statement to parents.

Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Cameron warned residents in a Facebook post about the availability of road salt.

“We are running out,” he wrote.

Cameron said they have sand, but the state is looking beyond Washington for vendors who might have extra salt and other forms of de-icer.

“Fingers crossed on that,” he said, noting that winter weather has impacted the West Coast.

Wheeler said he planned to keep working in the snow through the weekend, “until the snow is all gone and there’s nobody stuck in their driveway anymore.”

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