Painesville, OH — At the January Board meeting, Laketran’s Deputy General Manager, Andy Altenweg reported Laketran provided over 51 man hours, including 10 drivers and an additional dispatcher to assist with the emergency evacuation of the Fairport Harbor community. Laketran used 12 buses during the evacuation and relocation.

“People don’t always consider Laketran as an emergency first responder, but we respond to many crisis situations in Lake County. We were in Fairport Harbor within ten minutes of being contacted,” stated Andy Altenweg, Laketran’s deputy general manager. “Our first concern was the Fairport Harbor school district, because Fairport Harbor Schools do not have school buses for such evacuation. Once we realized students were still at home we began evacuating and relocating residents to Harvey High School.”

Laketran has responded by providing evacuation and transportation to many major Lake County emergencies including the 2003 Black Out, 2006 Painesville and Fairport Harbor floods, 2008 Painesville train derailment, H1N1 emergency vaccination clinics, flooded daycares, multi-unit residences when heating is lost, and even car accidents along I-90 and Interstate 2 when elderly or disabled are involved and local rescue squads cannot transport them.

“All in all it’s about safety. Laketran is committed to providing safe transportation and doing whatever we can to make our communities as safe as possible to live in,” said Altenweg.