CUMBERLAND — The heaviest snowfall to hit the region so far this winter left thousands stuck at home without electricity as maintenance crews scrambled to open roadways.

Cumberland was blanketed in about 24 inches of snow during the 30-hour storm that lasted from Friday morning to about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Tim Thomas, a local observer for the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service reported accumulations of 36 inches in Frostburg, 24 inches in Westernport and 25.5 inches in Keyser, W.Va., as of 4 p.m. Saturday. Unofficial measurements of as much as 40 inches were reported in parts of Garrett County.

Officials from across the region reported few major incidents during the weekend snowfall, but many weather-related problems kept roads crews and emergency services busy.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of calls on lines and trees down,” said Mike Powell, supervisor at the Allegany County 911 center, who started working at 5:30 Friday night and said he’d probably go straight through to Sunday morning. “We’re seeing a lot of power outages right now.”

The Cumberland Fire Department went out into the storm to rescue a 15-year-old boy who apparently fell 25 feet into Wills Creek Friday night around 9 p.m. City police said the boy climbed over a fence and went into the water on the side of the creek opposite Gianni’s Pizza & Wings, but managed to pull himself out onto an ice patch. He was transported to the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center for treatment.

In Mineral County, firefighters struggled to reach a 5 a.m. flue fire on the extension of Clearview Avenue in Wiley Ford because of the deep snow.

“There was just no way to get through,” said Wiley Ford Fire Chief Terry Ashenfelter. “We had to walk about 400 yards to get to it carrying the ladders and equipment.”

Ashenfelter said the damage in that fire was, fortunately, limited to the flue. He said firefighters continue to face problems getting anywhere off the main roads.

“The state is keeping the main roads open, but people need to work on getting some access into their streets,” Ashenfelter said. “There’s just no access to anything. We can’t get equipment off the main roads.”

The Mineral County 911 center reported a crash at noon Saturday on U.S. 220 south that involved two National Guard vehicles. Three people were transported for medical treatment after the incident, but no further information was available.

Power outages continued to be one of the most significant problems across the region, with thousands of Allegheny Power customers without electricity as of 3 p.m. Saturday.

Allegheny Power reported a total of 936 customers without power in Allegany County, about 365 in the Oldtown area alone. About 767 Allegheny Power customers were also without power in Mineral County, especially in Burlington, Fort Ashby, Keyser and Ridgeley. The utility also reported outages in McHenry and Swanton in Garrett County, and in Confluence in Somerset County.

By far the most people affected by outages in the region were in Bedford County, Pa., where more than 1,500 customers were without power in the Hyndman area. The utility attributed those outages to trouble with the main line.

Road crews struggled through the night Friday and all day Saturday to clear roadways of several feet of snow accumulation.

“Right now, we’re trying to aim for one lane to be open in each direction, until we can get everywhere,” said Charlie Gischlar, spokesman for the Maryland State Highway Administration. “We don’t want to build false confidence in people — this is going to be something measured in days, not hours.”

Gischlar emphasized that it’s still important for people to stay off the roads as much as possible, even into Sunday, as crews continue to try to reach secondary and back roads.

And another storm is already looming on the horizon, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Mike Pigott.

Pigott said on Saturday that the Cumberland area could see another significant snowfall Tuesday, with accumulations of six inches in Cumberland and as much as 12 inches in the higher elevations nearby.

Contact Megan Miller at mmiller@times-news.com.