A total of three cars have been towed following the recent blizzard, and city officials have said the response to the snow has gone smoothly.

Two of those cars were towed Wednesday night as crews worked to plow downtown Austin, police chief Paul Philipp said Thursday.

Another vehicle that was left abandoned in an intersection the night before was also towed.

Philipp said the year’s first snowfall usually means roughly 15 tows, so he said the last few days have gone “unusually well.”

Midtown Auto Clinic, located at 1400 10th Drive SE, is handling the towing for the city. Owner Steve Sollie said six trucks are ready if need be, but two or three trucks will likely be enough to handle calls.

Cars will be towed to Midtown, and retrieving a vehicle costs between $85 and $150, Sollie said.

The owner said he and his staff don’t like towing people’s cars, but he advised motorists to be aware of any parking restrictions in place.

“During the first snowfall, we tell people to get educated (about snow emergency parking),” Sollie said.

A snow emergency is still in effect through Friday night, meaning motorists should follow “calendar parking” — parking on the odd side of the street on odd days, even side on even days.

Roughly 20 plows and 30 workers have been out clearing the city’s streets since Tuesday night. On Thursday, they will be plowing the odd side of roads.

City engineer Jon Erichson said plowing has gone “quite well” so far.

There will be some final plowing done on Friday, but the city’s roadways should be good to go by the end of the week, the engineer said.

However, not all the plowing has gone smoothly.

A truck clearing the city’s transportation lot on 10th Street Northeast, where school busses are housed, caught fire Wednesday morning and was destroyed. The 55-year-old driver was uninjured.

Statewide, the year’s first major snowfall has resulted in at least two traffic deaths and more than 750 crashes, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

Three hundred and seventy-five vehicles have also went off the road in the last two days, the agency reports.

The storm reached across most of the state, but might have been most severe in southeastern Minnesota, where roughly a foot of snow fell.

Mower County offices closed by the storm Wednesday are open again Thursday.