Two major road accidents, one at the hoodoos south of Fairmont, and one on the road leading to Panorama, had emergency crews out in full force. The Fairmont crash brought traffic to a standstill on the highway after a tractor-trailer jackknifed but fortunately led to no injuries.
Further up the valley, however, not everyone left the scene unharmed.
When his cement truck had to stop behind a truck on Peter’s Hill, Barney Weismiller stopped to put chains on the tires before proceeding when a car came veering around a corner out of control. Weismiller had just enough time to warn his co-worker, who darted under the truck, but not enough to get out of the way himself. The car skidded and hit him.
Weismiller’s employer, Dale Mackay of Coyote Concrete in Invermere, said Weismiller had to fight to stay alive as he was brought first to Invermere & District Hospital and then to Calgary. According to Mackay, Weismiller has a fractured skull, broken cheekbones, arms, legs and ribs, a crushed pelvis and a torn bladder.
Mackay was noticeably moved when he recounted a conversation they had the morning prior to the accident.
“The ironic part of it is he works for Mainroad,” said Mackay, referring to the company that has the contract to clear roads of snow and sand and salt them in the East Kootenay. Weismiller works for Mainroad during the winter months and had phoned the morning before to see when he could start working this year.
Mackay continued: “He said to me ‘I phoned the boss down there to see when I could go back to work. He said I can go back to work any time but I don’t have a truck to drive.”
Mackay said Weismiller told him Mainroad had only one truck and he had alluded to the idea that one day that lack of vehicles would lead to a serious accident.
“He said that to me and a half hour later he was laying on the pavement,” said Mackay who feels that Mainroad should be held responsible for the accident.
He said that if the road had been properly cleared and sanded, the accident would not have happened.
Mainroad disagrees. Jim Conley is the general manager for Mainroad in the East Kootenay. He said that unfortunate timing is just as much to blame. Conley explained that Mainroad was still on its summer program and the winter schedule does not begin until November 1 when their staff doubles from 50 to over 100 and staff are given training for safety and protocol. On top of that, regular weather reports begin for them on October 15, a day before the collisions happened.
“We normally have a fairly good sense, a day or two in advance, of the major systems coming in. But because we don’t usually start that until October 15, we’re as reliant on pretty much the same thing as the average consumer has for weather reporting,” said Conley, adding, “I don’t think anyone was expecting this to come in as quick and hard as it did.”
But according to Cpl. Brent Ayers of the Invermere RCMP, who was at the scene of the accident, the snowstorm could have been predicted.
“It was forewarned in the media, through the news,” said Ayers. However, he also said that weather in this area can be unpredictable. “We live in the mountains so I expect that the weather can always change.”
Ayers said that the section of the road where the collision happened had last been salted two hours prior but couldn’t comment on whether it was a contributing factor as the road cant was quite steep as well.
He said the driver of the out of control car was not being charged as there were too many other factors involved including the road itself.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) granted Mainroad the 10-year, $13 million contract to clear roads from the U.S. border to as far as Brisco to the north and between Hwy. 93/95 to Yahk in the west. They said the Toby Creek Road has posed a very difficult situation.
According to Scott Maxwell, area roads manager for the MOTI, the road is too narrow to allow for a guard rail. To put one in, either the ditch would have to be filled in, leaving the road susceptible to more ice because of poor drainage, or it would have to be widened on the other side which could affect the creek and cost millions of dollars.
Maxwell said that the MOTI is pleased with the work Mainroad has been doing. He added that the protocol for road clearing in the area should include one truck being deployed to Toby Creek Road and one to the highway followed by other lesser priority roads.
On the day of the accident, Conley said that Mainroad had one truck out with two others on standby and ready to go if needed.
According to Ayers, there was an unfortunate irony to the day.
“You have an almost fatal accident and within an hour everything is melted,” he said. As for Weismiller, Ayers said that he spoke to the victim’s family and it is looking positive.
He stressed that, with winter on the doorstep, drivers have to remain aware of the risks.
“People just have to be aware that it’s winter driving conditions and that particular road is bad,” said Ayers.