A remote stretch of road, known as Alberta’s deadliest highway, is becoming an ever more serious and dangerous challenge for local fire emergency volunteers, following the announcement by Lac La Biche County that the Plamondon Fire Department is withdrawing its response service.
The Plamondon Fire Department made what was described as a ‘difficult’ decision to pull their services from Highway 63, a black spot for road accident fatalities, as of Nov. 30.
The department became deeply concerned that their 16 volunteers were ‘burning out’ because they are spending 30-plus hours each month attending collisions there.
The department began providing response services on Highway 63 in July, between Lac La Biche River and Mariana Lakes, after a shortage of members in Wandering River meant they were unable to cover the highway.
According to Ron Jackson, Athabasca County director of emergency services, the Boyle, Grassland and Wandering River fire departments will now work together to coordinate rescue services on the highway.
However, he said the situation remains dangerously unpredictable because the number of volunteer members available is limited, particularly from Wandering River, and the volunteer crews have to cover a large area.
“Athabasca County is now on its own,” said Jackson. “Wandering River Fire Department has around five members. Grassland and Boyle are more comfortable with 15 to 20 people.
“However, at this time of year, a lot of people are working away from home. The number of members available varies from day to day.
“We are going to be working cooperatively to try and manage the calls to the best of our ability. There could be some delays responding to calls,” he continued. “Highway 63 is very much a wildcard.
“I’ve seen it listed as one of the most dangerous highways in Canada. It is a dangerous situation.”
Lac La Biche County CAO Duane Coleman said this was far from an easy decision for the Plamondon Fire Department.
“Their hearts are torn,” he said. “They’re devastated they even have to consider this.”
According to a statement from Lac La Biche County, the huge workload was simply too much for volunteers.
Traffic on Highway 63 has increased dramatically in recent years, with the road acting as a main artery supplying the booming oil sands centres of Fort McMurray and Fort MacKay.
Plamondon fire crews were spending over 30 hours a month responding to calls on the highway, said Mitch Newton, manager of Lac La Biche County’s Protective Services department.
“This extra number of hours has taken its toll on our volunteers, who have jobs and family responsibilities in addition to emergency service volunteer work.
“We simply are not willing to burn out our volunteers and it will be up to the province to decide on the next steps,” said Newton.
Jackson said there were a number of meetings with the province, who provide ambulance services on the highway, to address the critical situation.
“To date, the province hasn’t offered us anything concrete to deal with actual road rescue response.
“On the ground, we are still on our own,” he said.
