CARSTAIRS -- Two Carstairs volunteer firefighters were taken to hospital after a fire truck was struck at an accident scene on Highway 2 near Highway 581 on March 11.
Jordan Schaffer, Carstairs fire chief, told the Gazette that crews were dispatched to a multiple vehicle collision on Highway 2.
"During the cleanup stage one of our trucks was dispatched to another call," said Schaffer. "During this time the other (remaining fire) truck was hit by a vehicle that was not adhering to the Alberta Traffic Safety Law."
One of the injured firefighters was inside the truck when it was struck, while the other firefighter was outside the vehicle.
"The other one outside was sent off for precautionary reasons just to make sure everything was OK since it was a large-scale incident," he said.
Both firefighters were transported by Alberta Health Services to Didsbury Hospital and were released later that day, he said.
The driver who struck the fire truck had passed a tow truck, which had its warning lights on, he said.
"He passed that tow truck at about 110 kilometres per hour and then hit our fire truck in the middle," he said. "All our emergency lights were activated including our directional bar."
The driver of the vehicle that collided with the fire truck and three other persons were driven to Didsbury Hospital for assessment.
The driver of the tow truck went to Airdrie Urgent Care Centre for evaluation, he said.
Drivers need to obey traffic safety laws and slow down to 60 km/h in the lane next to emergency vehicles, he said.
"We all want to go home to our families," he said. "People aren't adhering to this and they will, unfortunately, make it so one of my brothers or sisters on the streets or the tow truck driver won't make it home one day."
