Spire Employee Charley Richardson Saves Christmas
On December 23, 2023, Charley Richardson, a Civic Improvement Inspector with Spire, got a call about a gas leak in the city of Mount Vernon, Missouri. Spire didn’t offer gas service within five miles of the call – but Charley decided to go out and check on the situation regardless, just in case. It turned out to be a very good thing he did.
Driving through the snowy night, Charley saw something unexpected. “A winter storm was coming in, and I saw headlights down in this twenty-foot ravine,” said Charley. “I got out, and there was an elderly lady in the seat of this SUV. I made my way down into the ravine and I checked and made sure that she was alert and she was okay.”
Thankfully, the woman was awake and unharmed from her ordeal. However, her car was stuck and she wasn’t sure how to get it out of the ravine.
“At that time, I asked ‘What would you like me to do? What can I do to help you?’” continued Charley. “She said that she was on her way to her son’s house for Christmas. And she had this little dog in there with her, and the car was just packed full of gifts. And at that time she said to me, “If you could just please get me out, I’ve got to get to my son’s house. And I said, ‘I will try.’”
Charley was able to safely extract the woman’s car from the ravine in drivable condition and get her back on the road to her son’s house.
“She was just so happy I got her out and she was able to continue her trip,” reminisced Charley. “She gave me a big ol’ hug, and she went on her way.”
“Charley wasn’t even supposed to be there the night that accident happened,” said Charley’s supervisor Jim Jenson. “The dispatcher got a leak call in an area we didn’t even have gas in. Charley had no reason to even be there. So I feel that things happen for a reason. And that’s just what Charley does. Charley’s a giver, and he helps.”
Charley agrees. “I truly, really believe in my heart that I was there to help her,” he said.
His arrival felt like a Christmas miracle for a reason. With temperatures dropping as the storm blew in, it’s unlikely anyone else would have driven down that dark road that night – and the SUV was impossible to be seen by anyone that wasn’t standing on the embankment. If not for Charley’s commitment to his community’s safety and willingness to go above and beyond to make sure there really wasn’t a gas leak that night, it’s very possible that no one would have been there to help.
“To be able to help get here where she was going, to spend Christmas with her family, that was a great feeling. It made my night,” Charley concluded.