Stranded and out of gas, Henry County mother and her children stuck on I-75 during snow storm

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. - A Henry County mom and her three young children were trapped on Interstate 75, stuck behind car crashes and icy conditions.

The family was stuck in the winter snow storm for fourteen and a half hours on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Black ice, icy roads in Atlanta overnight | The latest forecast

Mom stuck on icy interstate with no gas

Timeline:

The children, ages 1, 3, and 4, made it home with their mom, Bobbie Fesmire, around 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Fesmire finally took a chance and drove through stalled traffic and across a frozen median to get to a gas station when her car meter showed she was on empty.

Fesmire left work in Warner Robbins around 5 p.m. Tuesday, picked up her children from daycare in Macon and thought she’d be home in an hour.

"Then, when I got to Forsyth, it came to a dead stop. So, cars are just stopping and stopping, and I thought it was a wreck."

The standstill on I-75, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation, began with a tractor trailer fire around 2 p.m., and then subsequent car wrecks and stalled cars because of the snow and frozen roads.

"By about 10 p.m., I called the H.E.R.O., and they said that they are not sending them out no more, that they closed at 10:30."

Fesmire saw law enforcement go by throughout the day, but no movement on the interstate, and her gas was just about empty.

"I have no choice but to turn my car on and off and realizing that I'm stuck for the night is what really got like, I started crying," said Fesmire. "I was calling my mom, and my kids are crying, so I have to keep cool for them, so they don't see mom freaking out."

Fesmire was hoping to find a way to get off the interstate, but trucks were blocking the emergency lane to the exit.

"Around 9 a.m., I had zero miles in my tank, and they were up there ready for breakfast. They're ready for their diaper change. They don't have anything to drink. So, I just said, I’m just going to have to go and end up going to the median."

The other side:

Meanwhile, Fesmire’s mom, Callie was home worried sick. "Hysterical," said Callie Fesmire of how she felt all night trying to get help for her daughter and grandchildren. "It was just a whole trauma. It was just trauma all the way around."

Bobbie took back roads home, sliding off the road once, but Good Samaritans helped her get back on the road, and finally, she safely made it home on Wednesday afternoon.

GDOT responds to incident

What they're saying:

The Georgia Department of Transportation sent FOX5 Atlanta a statement, which said their crews treated that section of the road twice before the storm:

"We are Georgia DOT are always concerned when motorists find themselves impacted by traffic backups and road closures caused by inclement weather. Georgia is under a state of emergency regarding this winter weather that was issued Monday; and the National Weather Service had issued a Winter Weather Warning for this part of Georgia. Georgia DOT crews began applying brine early Sunday morning to Georgia interstates; crews pre-treated the road at this location with brine twice prior to the onset of the storm. Additionally, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency along with Georgia DOT strongly encouraged all non-essential travel throughout most of Georgia to cease in the afternoon prior to the onset of the inclement weather, and reminded motorists that due to icy precipitation and bitter cold temperatures (and in spite of pre-treatment) roads across the state could freeze and travel would be hazardous. Around 10:00 pm Tuesday, an incident with a tractor-trailer caused a traffic backup that later expanded to involve multiple stalled and immovable commercial vehicles caused by continued precipitation and freezing road temps. The highly unusual storm system encompassed tens of thousands of interstate and state route miles, which crews treated throughout the night and continue to treat provided they can reach these areas. Given the statewide impacts our crews could not be everywhere at once and in some cases were obstructed from continuity of operations due to backups caused by stalls and incidents."

What's next:

The Fesmire family said they hope more crews, especially more rescue crews, will be ready for the next storm. They said they hope officials hear what their family experienced and make sure to have plans to redirect traffic, to stop more families from experiencing the struggle they endured.

"This was a major incident that should not have happened," said Callie Fesmire. "And I pray it never happens again because it's very, very terrifying."