Can remember when a certain southern airfield strip was illuminated by headlights of vehicles driven by town's residents for an emergency flight in from the ice. A/c may have been a Globemaster (1960's?). Injured worker on board and they wanted to get him to the closest hospital.
Would never happen now. Imagine the 'please explain' for allowing non-security-cleared vehicles & pesonnel airside in such vast numbers.
Don't recall, even back then, being able to lay a flarepath. Sometimes the oldest tricks in the book are those that can save the day. Trouble is, those that remember the 'old tricks' are becoming fewer. Maybe we need to resurrect some of those 'tricks'.
Le Vieux