Charges are pending against an area tow truck driver in connection to a deadly two-vehicle crash last weekend that claimed the life of a Cremona teenager and left another in critical condition.
Penhold and Innisfail fire departments responded to the two-vehicle crash at 10:44 p.m., east of Penhold at the intersection of Highway 42 and Rge. Rd. 273.
“Two vehicles were involved,” said Penhold fire Chief Jim Pendergast, noting two occupants of one vehicle required extrication.
“As soon as we got on scene we recognized the severity of the injuries and we requested STARS,” he said.
“We had two patients that we had to extricate out of the (same) car. They both had very serious, life-threatening injuries. We assessed the driver of the other vehicle and they were fine.”
STARS air ambulance transported one patient to a Calgary hospital. Innisfail RCMP confirmed the patient was a 19-year-old male from Cremona. RCMP said a 17-year-old female from Cremona was deceased at the scene.
The driver of the tow truck and his passenger were not injured, said RCMP.
“We had Innisfail fire out to assist us,” added Pendergast. “We did medical care while we were doing the extrication and I had the Innisifail Fire Department set up a landing zone to land STARS.”
The Penhold Fire Department had five units with 20 members respond to the motor vehicle collision and was on scene for more than four hours. In addition, members of nearby emergency services, including Red Deer Emergency Services and Guardian EMS also attended.
Highway 42 was shut down in both directions for several hours.
Meanwhile, Innisfail RCMP Sgt. Lori Eiler said charges are pending against the driver of the tow truck. She said RCMP are awaiting the report on the accident from a traffic analyst.
Jim Pendergast, Penhold fire chief
"We had two patients that we had to extricate out of the (same) car. They both had very serious, life-threatening injuries."
