chicot60
10-22-2013, 12:26 PM
I just want to share something that I experienced last nite. I am a volunteer fire fighter in our town. I went to bed around 12:30 am and then around 1:10 am my pager went off. The call was for an accident that occurred quite a few miles out of town.
A little background before I continue.
Yesterday morning it started to snow around 9 am. Temp was around -1c but in another hour or so it warmed up to 1 and then later on in the afternoon it went to 1.5 c.
It snowed all day but it was wet snow. In the evening it continued to snow and around 9 pm the wet snow turned solid. When I went to bed at 12:30 it was still snowing.
I got to the fire hall and it was still snowing.
Seven of us went on the call and the conditions were not favourable. Visibility was poor and the roads were slippery and snow packed but also a bit wet.
When we arrived at the accident scene it was like this.
On the right hand side of the road there was a car in the ditch with rear end pushed in and on the left hand of the highway there was a 1/2 ton truck with the front end buckled in. Severe damage on both vehicles.
There were three people involved in the accident. One driver in the 1/2 ton and two in the car. The driver of the 1/2 ton was in one ambulance, another ambulance had transported the driver of the car to the nearest hospital and the third ambulance was still at the scene. The third person, apparently a younger person was deceased.
It appears that the 1/2 ton rear ended the car. I would suspect that the half ton could have been travelling at higher speeds than conditions allowed and the back lights of the car could have been covered by the snow. I also suspect that the deceased person was not wearing a seat belt.
It is my hope that this story will trigger a caution to all our members. I belief that there were a lot of factors that resulted in this unfortunate incident and all of this could have been avoided.
Travelling at night even at the best of times is always a bit riskier. In this part of the country we also have the possibility of moose encounters etc.
Weather conditions were poor. Our first snowfall. Visibility was poor, road was slippery etc. Whether any of the vehicles were prepared (snow tires) I don't know. I don't know if they had seat belts on.
Even at best of times any trip takes a bit of planning and common sense.
Even in the pumper I did not feel safe on the road but everyone from our department came home in one piece.
I only had a couple hours sleep so this description seems a bit choppy.
One thing that I was thinking on the way home. If any of our members know a volunteer fire men, even a full time firemen, please give them a thank you. I've been on the department for about ten years and I can't count how may times that myself and other members have answered a call in the early hours of the morning. Some of these calls are under adverse conditions. I have been out at -40c a few times. Not much fun.
Stay safe.
A little background before I continue.
Yesterday morning it started to snow around 9 am. Temp was around -1c but in another hour or so it warmed up to 1 and then later on in the afternoon it went to 1.5 c.
It snowed all day but it was wet snow. In the evening it continued to snow and around 9 pm the wet snow turned solid. When I went to bed at 12:30 it was still snowing.
I got to the fire hall and it was still snowing.
Seven of us went on the call and the conditions were not favourable. Visibility was poor and the roads were slippery and snow packed but also a bit wet.
When we arrived at the accident scene it was like this.
On the right hand side of the road there was a car in the ditch with rear end pushed in and on the left hand of the highway there was a 1/2 ton truck with the front end buckled in. Severe damage on both vehicles.
There were three people involved in the accident. One driver in the 1/2 ton and two in the car. The driver of the 1/2 ton was in one ambulance, another ambulance had transported the driver of the car to the nearest hospital and the third ambulance was still at the scene. The third person, apparently a younger person was deceased.
It appears that the 1/2 ton rear ended the car. I would suspect that the half ton could have been travelling at higher speeds than conditions allowed and the back lights of the car could have been covered by the snow. I also suspect that the deceased person was not wearing a seat belt.
It is my hope that this story will trigger a caution to all our members. I belief that there were a lot of factors that resulted in this unfortunate incident and all of this could have been avoided.
Travelling at night even at the best of times is always a bit riskier. In this part of the country we also have the possibility of moose encounters etc.
Weather conditions were poor. Our first snowfall. Visibility was poor, road was slippery etc. Whether any of the vehicles were prepared (snow tires) I don't know. I don't know if they had seat belts on.
Even at best of times any trip takes a bit of planning and common sense.
Even in the pumper I did not feel safe on the road but everyone from our department came home in one piece.
I only had a couple hours sleep so this description seems a bit choppy.
One thing that I was thinking on the way home. If any of our members know a volunteer fire men, even a full time firemen, please give them a thank you. I've been on the department for about ten years and I can't count how may times that myself and other members have answered a call in the early hours of the morning. Some of these calls are under adverse conditions. I have been out at -40c a few times. Not much fun.
Stay safe.