Spring begins with a bitter reminder of winter for area drivers and first responders

• Low visibility and snowy icy conditions lead to multiple traffic incidents on March 21

Toni Lucas

Pincher Creek Emergency Services responded to five separate incidents on Thursday, March 21. Piikani Fire assisted with two of those incidents, and also dealt with two incidents of their own. Both Pincher Creek Emergency Services Chief Dave Cox and Piikani Fire Chief Floyd Provost said that the weather played a factor in  many of the incidents, after what Piikani RCMP called "horrendous" road conditions and low visibility resulted from a winter snowstorm that struck most of southern Alberta.

At approximately 8:00 am there was a single vehicle incident that resulted in a pickup truck being overturned on its side at the "Cowley Coulees" between Pincher Station and Cowley on Highway 3. Pincher Creek responded with an engine and an ambulance.  Cowley Fire and the RCMP also responded. A single occupant was transported to Pincher Creek Hospital with minor injuries.

Also at approximately 8:00 am on Highway 3 east of Pincher Station, near the railway overpass, a single motor vehicle incident resulted in an SUV upside down on its roof. The vehicle's single occupant was checked on scene and did not require further medical attention. RCMP, Piikani Fire, Pincher Fire, and Pincher Ambulance responded.

At approximately 9:45 am a two vehicle collision between a van and an SUV occurred at Range Road 281 east of Brocket . Three people were transported to Pincher Creek Hospital with minor injuries. RCMP, Piikani Ambulance, Pincher Creek's Command Unit and the Piikani Command Unit responded.

Both Piikani Fire and Pincher Creek Emergency Services were called to the scene of a tractor-trailer that was jack-knifed on the hill west of Brocket on Highway 3. Before the responders got the scene the situation had already been dealt with. Chief Cox said there were tracks showing  the incident had taken place, but the vehicle had been removed, most likely under its own power.

Piikani Fire responded to a single vehicle that had skidded off Highway 3 at approximately 10:45 am. Unhurt but too shaken to continue driving, the driver was escorted to Fort Macleod.

Returning from Fort Macleod after the above incident,  Piikani Fire saw a British Columbia ambulance stopped on Highway 3 pointing westbound west of Scott's Coulee. The ambulance attendants were stopped to see to the needs of their patient. They were escorted to Piikani's Response Center so that they could work on their patient in a safer environment.

Just after 9:00 pm Pincher Creek Emergency Services responded to two calls reporting a single vehicle accident west of Pincher Creek that turned out to be an earlier incident they had already responded to.  They re-flagged the vehicle to let the public know that it had already been dealt with by Emergency Services.