CANMORE – Firefighters from Canmore were kept busy on Sunday (Oct. 22) responding to two structure fires, two car accidents and a river rescue.
The first call came in around 4:15 a.m. for a semi-trailer rollover on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Deputy fire chief Keri Martens said the truck crashed under the Benchlands Trail overpass, blocking the eastbound lanes and forcing traffic to be rerouted for several hours until the truck could be removed. No injuries were reported.
The second call came in at 10:15 a.m. for a residential structure fire on Macdonald Place.
According to Martens, the first fire truck arrived on scene nine minutes after they were dispatched and firefighters were able to knock it down by 10:39 a.m.
“When the crews got there they saw flame and smoke coming out of the building,” said Martens.
After quickly assessing the situation, she said crews decided an interior attack was the best course of action.
No one was injured, however one patient was taken by EMS to hospital for observation. She said an investigator is working in conjunction with the RCMP to determine the cause of the fire.
Just as firefighters were returning from that call, they received another call around 1 p.m. for a minor car crash on 14th Street and Second Avenue near the hospital. There were no reports of injuries.
The second structure fire was reported just before 5 p.m. on Kananaskis Way at Fire Mountain Lodge.
When firefighters arrived they found the fire on the front deck near the fire place outlet and quickly knocked it down. Three people were home at the time of the fire, but no one was injured.
“Given the location of the fire the crews had to go through the unit out to the front deck,” said Martens, explaining the main entrance to the townhouse was located at the back of the building.
If that wasn’t enough to keep firefighters busy, around 6:30 p.m. they received a call from one of their own members about two kayakers on the Bow River who needed help.
According to Martens, the paddlers got stuck on a log jam near Harvie Heights.
“One of our members was out on the water and came across a couple of people in need of assistance and he called it in and then a couple more of our members went out to help them get back to shore and back to their vehicle.”
Just before the day wrapped up, firefighters were called upon one more time to help EMS with a medical call.
“The guys and girls did a great job yesterday,” said Martens. “They were excited and keen to do whatever they could whenever we needed them, which was a lot yesterday.”
