96-year-old WWII vet among Bass Lake residents snowed in, Good Samaritans deliver supplies

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A group of Good Samaritans came to the rescue of people without power in Bass Lake on Wednesday.

A fleet of snowcats came plowing through feet of deep untouched snow in the Cedar Vista community, where the roads have disappeared under four feet of snow.

"Nobody has been up here. these are fresh tracks so we are just ogging through it and do what we have to do," said Steve Arata, a volunteer with the group.

They are bringing critical supplies with them, including food and gasoline to power generators.

Another volunteer, Jeff Aiello, made his way through snow almost waist deep to bring a man and his wife bread and milk.

"I wanted to kiss him when I saw him," the homeowner said about Aiello.

Denis Harden in his wife have never seen a multi-day storm pound Bass Lake with snow like this.

"I have never seen this before this is ridiculous," said Harden.

These good Samaritans topped his generator off and left an extra gallon of gas to hold his family over through the power outage.

Many people in this community are elderly and have been waiting days for someone to come get them.

"Regular emergency services cannot get to them. they have limited supplies of these types of equipment so we are just trying to help by tracking the road down so emergency crews can get in," said Aiello.

The group got a call about a 96 year old man who is starting to run low on fuel for the generator powering his house.

They used their equipment to carve a path into his garage and deliver gasoline.

World War II Vet Bob Todd lives alone and has been sleeping by the fire to keep warm at night.

"Kinda tears me up a little bit. he is our hero. This is why our country is so free today. so we got to do what we have to do to help these people out. it is a wonderful feeling," said Arata.

There are many elderly in the mountains like him -- in desperate need of propane or other fuel to keep warm.

"We are really concerned about older folks in the next two days. this is after the storm because as you can see it is hard to get to these people."

One thing that's been a big struggle up here is propane. Many are running low and need it to stay warm.

Even if people can manage to make it out of their homes, it's been hard to come by.

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