Collisions on Highway 55 have kept emergency responders busy this week.
At midday on Tuesday, two Ford F-150 pickup trucks collided at the intersection of Highway 55 and 34 Street at the Super 8 Motel, sending the driver of one truck to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The impact was great enough to scatter thousands of small pieces of the vehicles across Highway 55, which firefighters worked to clear before traffic was allowed to move again.
Athabasca Fire Department responded to the call at 12:14 p.m. Fire chief Denis Mathieu said it appears a black pickup driven by the sole female occupant was heading eastbound when a blue pickup, attempting a left turn, pulled out in front of it and was T-boned.
Mathieu said there is no indication speed or loss of control was a factor in the accident, but that the driver of the blue truck may simply have misjudged the turn and didn’t see the other vehicle approaching.
Multiple ambulances responded to the call. In the blue pickup they found a male driver who fractured his collar bone, as well as his spouse and two children in rear car seats whose injuries are currently unknown.
His wife of approximately 30 years of age, and two young children in the back seat estimated to be under five years old, appeared unhurt and the children were “really, really calm,” according to the fire chief.
The condition is unknown of the female driver, estimated to be in her late 40’s, although she was seen making her way by foot to a nearby ambulance for treatment.
The injured were taken to the Athabasca Healthcare Centre for treatment.
As a standard procedure, the firefighters had to clip the battery lines to ensure that sparks would not ignite any possible fuel spill. and to ensure that any power surge does not set off another air bag while victims are being rescued. In this incident, however, only antifreeze and oil spilled.
A number of Athabasca firefighters worked to contain the two wrecked trucks, as others redirected traffic and swept the highway.
The two pickups were hauled away by trucks from Steve’s Towing.
“In the holiday rush, everybody is trying to get everywhere they (need to go),” said Mathieu. “I would just ask that they slow down and pay attention to the drivers. Just be patient.”
At approximately 10:20 a.m. on Wednesday, the Athabasca Fire Department, RCMP and EMS responded to a call of a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 55, on the hill between 55 Street and 34 Street.
Circumstances of the accident are still under investigation, according to Athabasca RCMP Sgt. Brian Scott, but according to Mathieu, it appears a silver Hyundai Santa Fe and a silver Ford minivan collided and sent the mini van plummeting down the embankment on the south side of the highway.
Mathieu said there were only two drivers involved and both were able to exit their vehicles unassisted. Both were taken to the Athabasca Healthcare Centre for minor injuries.
Mathieu said deteriorated road conditions were “really icy” at the time and were a likely culprit.
Traffic remained closed off in both directions until 11:20 a.m. when debris was fully removed and the vehicles were hauled away.
Just three days prior to these consecutive mishaps, a single-vehicle rollover on the same highway occurred just east of Athabasca, in which one male driver sustained no injuries despite rolling his sedan into the eastbound ditch due to slippery road conditions.
