One member of the Busby Fire Department was struck by a car on an emergency scene last Monday, Dec. 10, and remains in hospital with serious injuries.
Regional fire chief John Biro said that the two members of the department were commuting to work on Monday morning, when both independently stopped at the scene of a collision south of Alcomdale.
The first member stopped on the scene, put on a safety vest and went to see if there was anything he could do to help. A second member recognized the first member’s car and also stopped to see if he could help.
They were standing together next to one of their vehicles when they were struck.
“They heard some braking, then looked and saw a vehicle had lost control and veered over toward them,” Biro said. “One member was able to jump on top of his vehicle before it was hit, and the other member, he tried jumping as well but he was clipped and was thrown into the ditch.”
A Morinville RCMP media release says that the incident occurred at about 7:30 a.m. on Highway 44 north of Secondary Highway 633. A southbound Chevrolet Suburban struck a 30-year-old man from Busby.
Biro said the member who was thrown into the ditch suffered two broken legs and has been in an Edmonton hospital being treated for his injuries since.
A third member of a county fire department became involved when somebody came to his workplace along Highway 44 and said there had been a collision. That member has emergency medical training and headed to the scene.
“He was informed somebody got hit, so he grabbed his stuff and headed back,” Biro said.
It was not until the injured firefighter started speaking that the medical responder knew his patient was his friend.
“It was kind of a weird call, because three of our members were involved and it wasn’t even in our county,” Biro said.
That’s not necessarily unusual, he added, because even if an incident happens outside a department’s jurisdiction volunteer firefighters will feel compelled to do what they can to help.
“There are no borders. Whether somebody’s house is burning, just because it’s in someone else’s county, we’re not going to stop at the line,” Biro said.
“The volunteers are a different breed; we need more of them. They’re always there to help no matter who it is or where it is.”
He said he would not give the names of the firefighters involved since he did not have expressed permission from their families to do so.
“We’ve told the families we’re there for them 100 per cent — just let us know when they want us there,” Biro said. “Otherwise, we’ve just given them the respect and the space to concentrate on his recovery.”
