Kenny Rybak, 31, shovels snow around his car in Running Springs, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. Beleaguered Californians got hit again Tuesday as a new winter storm moved into the already drenched and snow-plastered state, with blizzard warnings blanketing the Sierra Nevada and forecasters warning residents that any travel was dangerous. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A popular local social media personality is rallying a convoy of snow removal equipment to help dig out people in California who’ve been trapped after a massive storm.
Dave Sparks, also known as Heavy D or one half of Discovery Channel’s Diesel Brothers, put out a call for help to his three million social media followers.
“People are actually dying,” Sparks said in his Instagram reel. “Roofs are collapsing, gas is leaking, houses are catching on fire. It’s a bad situation,” he said.
Sparks posted on Monday midday. The plan was to leave Salt Lake City “in a few hours” to caravan San Bernadino County. He said the plan was to be there Tuesday and Wednesday. He also asked for Californians to join on the back end.
“One of the main issues is the plows came through and plowed the main roads, that created giant berms to the sides streets, lke 15-foot snow walls, so the sides streets are still completely unplowed and people can’t get in and out.”
Sparks said they got the okay from San Bernadino County officials there who were welcoming the help.
“We have their full support,” Sparks said.
“We are going to go down there and distribute food, and medicines to people who haven’t been able to have their roads plowed yet,” Sparks said.
Sparks said he even plans to bring a helicopter to deliver supplies to those trapped.
He later posted an Instagram story with a view from the air stating he was over Southern California.