By the end of last Tuesday, a gas shortage due to the cyberattack for ransom of the Colonial Pipeline, the nation’s primary carrier of refined oil products, caused many pump handles in Gilmer to be bagged, awaiting refills.
Long lines at the pump were commonplace around the county Tuesday and early Wednesday for the few remaining stations that had gas left to sell.
“Right now, we are out. We had 6,000 gallons delivered yesterday morning. By 2 o’clock we had to limit it to 20 gallons per customer,”
said Debra Haycock, manager at Highway 282 station Orchard Junction last Thursday. “Once we got down to 2,000 gallons in the tank, we had to limit them to $30 to stretch it out and give people who were getting off work time to get it. Tomorrow is our usual day to get gas, so we’ll see how it goes.”
An employee at the Dollar Dawg convenience store on Highway 52 East said far more gas was sold at that store on Tuesday than in a normal 24-hour period.
“Tuesday was crazy. We had long lines and all kinds of stuff out here until we ran out of gas. We didn’t actually run out till yesterday,” explained Dottie Hunt on Thursday. “The phone is ringing nonstop with people wanting to know if we have gas. Even though there are signs everywhere outside that say we’re out of gas, people still stop and ask. We had to turn the breakers off to the pumps because people kept pulling the bags off trying to get gas.”
East Ellijay Police Chief Larry Callahan said his department responded to a few calls from gas station employees about those types of situations.
“So far it (the shortage)hasn’t impacted us other than keeping the peace at the gas stations,” he said last week.
The Times-Courier contacted several county agencies to see if they’ve had to change their routines or limit work that requires gas.
Gilmer Fire Chief Daniel Kauffman said the shortage impacted the county fire and rescue department’s normal daily operations, but didn’t limit its response capability or 911 service.
“We continued to transport our patients to the receiving facility of their choice. We were proactive in minimizing any unnecessary travel between stations, putting joint training on hold and stopping fire and rescue vehicles from going to the grocery stores. We requested personnel bring in their food from home,” Kauffman said. “We never ran out of fuel and no equipment was ever placed out of service due to the fuel shortage. Our fuel vendor was very gracious to maintain a reserve supply of fuel to ensure our (vehicles) remained on the road and available for 911 calls.”
Sheriff Stacy Nicholson said the gas shortage caused his department to temporarily cut back on patrolling.
“We instructed our folks to conserve gas, which unfortunately meant patrolling less and just answering calls. The suppliers we use on standard operations were able to keep us in gas, so we didn’t have any major issues arise. However, we did go into gas conservation mode,” he added.
By Monday, the sheriff’s department had returned to more normal operations than last week, the sheriff noted.
“The gas flow is back a little better by now, so we’re back to patrolling and obviously we never stopped answering calls,” Nicholson said.
Kim Cagle, interim superintendent at Gilmer County Schools, said, so far, no school sports or extracurricular activities have been canceled or rescheduled due to the gas shortage. As of last week, the school system still had enough fuel for buses to run for two more weeks, she noted.
“We only have two weeks left of school so we are crossing our fingers that it will last,” said Cagle.
For Times-Courier readers Kent and Jackie Hamilton, sitting in line to get gas last week brought back memories of the early 1970s oil crisis.
“They called that the ‘oil embargo.’ As a teenager, I had to wait in a long line of cars for over an hour to get the maximum of 10 gallons of gas. We were able to get a tank of gas here in Ellijay on Tuesday after only waiting in line for about 15 minutes,” they commented on our Facebook page.
Gilmer County Commission Chairman Charlie Paris was also reminded of that past fuel crunch when trying to find gas for his personal vehicle over the weekend.
“I looked all over Gilmer and finally found some at one place Sunday afternoon, then had to wait in line because everybody was lined up like they were back in the ‘70s. I guess I waited about 40 minutes, so I probably shouldn’t compare it to the ‘70s, when I was waiting for hours,” he said.
Although gas was somewhat easier to find around the county by Monday, some local stations still remained out or only able to offer certain grades of fuel. The continued shortage and an increase in gas prices could impact county departments in a few ways, Paris noted.
“Right now, we’re struggling to make sure we can find gas. When we do, we’re having to pay a premium price for it. I don’t think we’ve seen anybody here in Gilmer County scalping at this point, which is good news,” he said.
“The Colonial Pipeline has been functional for several days now, and I really thought we’d have some fuel up here by now. I guess we do have some, but I look at all these vehicles on the road and all our county vehicles, and I’m worried. If somebody doesn’t start getting a reliable supply up here fairly soon, we’re going to have a tough time of it.”
Even with no gas available, there were still plenty of other reasons for customers to frequent local convenience stores last week, the employees we contacted shared.
Hunt said, “We’re a little bit slower than normal, but people still want (things like) their lottery tickets and cigarettes.”
“And beer,” added Haycock. “Because it’s an ongoing situation and it kind of grates on people’s nerves.”