Emergency responders attended to a two-vehicle collision at 8:20 p.m. Oct. 5 at the intersection of Highway 55 and 34 Street at the top of Athabasca's east hill.
Athabasca Fire Chief Travis Shalapay said an older model blue Sedan Cobalt was heading northbound on 34 Street towards the Super 8 hotel when it missed a stop sign.
"The driver failed to yield and it struck a brand-new black Ford F-350 truck, causing the truck to roll onto its roof into the east bound lanes," Shalapay said. "The driver of the F-350 was taken to the nearby hospital with non life-threatening injuries, while the driver of the Cobalt was able to (walk away from the accident)."
He added that the Ford F-350 was only about a week old at the time of the crash.
"The Athabasca RCMP are now doing the investigation into the crash," Shalapay said. "There was also a slip tank of diesel fuel in the back of the pick-up truck, so we had a significant amount of fuel spill across the highway, requiring us to put floor dry across all four lanes."
Shalapay added that traffic was congested in the area for at least a half hour as firefighters from Athabasca and Colinton cleaned up the scene.
"Luckily, people were very cooperative and patient with us and we really appreciate that," he said. "This was the second collision in the span of a week. We also responded to a tanker rollover on Highway 813 the previous weekend. It's getting to the time of year that we see more highway accidents as well as wildlife encounters."
Shalapay advised motorists to proceed with caution at this time of year when driving to and from your destination.
