An American Legion Ambulance makes its way through Pine Grove on Highway 88 Monday. Photo by: Bill Lavallie

For three days, Amador's law enforcement and rescue workers battled treacherous winter conditions to keep locals out of harm's way. However, when the white dust cleared, it would be a little boy whose bravery shined above the rest.

There was no dawn Monday morning, only a hard, sudden snow storm that blanketed Jackson and Sutter Creek and left Upcountry residents piled under multiple feet of snow. Numerous roads were closed almost immediately by falling trees and power lines. Veering into a ditch, an Amador Regional Transit System bus triggered a series of spin-outs on Highway 49 above Sutter Creek. Meanwhile, deputies from the Amador County Sheriff's Office worked to reach a car accident victim who was trapped on Pioneer-Volcano Road by broken trees, and the Jackson City Fire Department dealt with a hot power line draped across the roof of a home on Perry Road.

By 8 a.m., vehicle spin-outs and collisions were being reported in nearly every sector of Amador County. As emergency responders moved across slick, snowy roadways, entire neighborhoods began losing power. At noon, nearly all of Jackson and Sutter Creek were dark. Outages Upcountry were even more encompassing, with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. soon looking at more than 42 separate outages leaving customers with limited heat, or no heat at all.

Emergency responders were also dispatched to a downed power line, or "live wire," that was reportedly "arcing in the snow" on Emigrant Trail in Mace Meadow. Later, at 9:30 p.m., the Jackson City Fire Department rushed out into the darkness to locate another power line that was strung across Highway 88 just past Wicklow Way. As PG&E showed up to assist them, the firefighters could already tell that a deep freeze was beginning to set in for the county.

Tuesday morning brought sunshine, but no end to the emergency calls. Long, thick patches of black ice on the roadways caused more spin-outs and collisions. One such accident resulted in injuries around 2 p.m., when a pickup truck driving east on Highway 88 near Mt. Zion Road in Pine Grove slid across the double-yellow lines to collide with a sedan heading in the opposite direction. Both vehicles tumbled down an embankment. A female passenger in the pickup was hurt by the impact.

In addition, firefighters and paramedics responded to dozens of calls about residents losing their footing on the ice and sustaining injuries. Broken hips, broken legs and other wounded extremities were treated across Amador. That accident trend continued into Wednesday.

The Amador County Sheriff's Office spent Tuesday morning conducting health and welfare checks on elderly residents who had been stranded overnight without power. "We have to think about what kind of problems the temperature and loss of power could cause for residents with serious medical conditions," said Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner. "We also have warming centers for any homeless individuals who could be looking at a life-threatening situation by being outside in this cold."

By Tuesday afternoon, the Amador Fire Protection District had fielded 43 calls in 48 hours. "We're pretty exhausted," one firefighter said. "It feels like we've been out in this stuff non-stop. The calls just keep coming in."

The 44th call was about to be the most memorable.

At around 2 p.m., 9-year-old Victor Flores, along with his new 7-year-old neighbor, Aidan Daily, were chasing ducks through the snow near their homes above Mace Meadow. Nearby was a large man-made pond, 40 feet across and 15 feet deep. Seeing that the pond was frozen over, Daily ventured onto the ice. Seconds later, the 7-year-old crashed through and was submerged in deep, icy water. He was screaming for Flores as he flailed around and gasped for breath. But the 9-year-old didn't let him down. Flores jumped into the pond, breaking the ice with his boots. He swam over to rescue Daily, towing him toward a steep, sheer bank on the side of the water.

"Understandably, Aidan was in a total panic," Flores's grandfather, Rich, later observed. "But Victor had the presence of mind to keep him at arm's length as he pulled him, so they wouldn't get dragged down together."

Flores got Daily to the side of the pond where he could grab onto the cement ledge. Pulling himself out, Flores grabbed a pole off the ground and - backing up with his own strength - hauled Daily the rest of the way out of the pond.

Mark Chatterton, a captain from CALFIRE, was among the first firefighters to arrive on the scene. "He was taking a serious risk in making that rescue attempt," Chatterton said of Flores. "For a kid who's 9 years old to do what he did, the way he did it, is pretty amazing. I told Victor myself that he'd done something very heroic. As far as I'm concerned, he saved that boy's life."

Daily was rushed by ambulance to Sutter Amador Hospital, suffering from hypothermia. By the time he'd arrived at the emergency room, paramedics had managed to raise his core temperature.

Daily's mother, Shannon, said on Thursday that her son had made a full recovery. When it came to describing her feeling about Flores, she didn't hesitate. "This is something that could have been a double tragedy if Victor didn't have the courage to act and the ability to keep a calm head. Victor is absolutely a hero. I wouldn't have my little boy right now if it wasn't for him."