SUNDRE – The death of an older male from Red Deer who was killed in a single vehicle off-highway rollover that police say did not involve alcohol marred an otherwise largely uneventful Heritage Day long weekend in the area.
From Friday, Aug. 4 to Monday, Aug. 7, the Sundre RCMP detachment responded to 25 calls for service, said Sgt. Randy Poon, the department’s interim commander.
There throughout that period were three collisions – including the Saturday, Aug. 5 fatal off-highway vehicle rollover – none of which are believed to have had alcohol involved as a factor, said Poon.
The other incidents involved reports of vehicles on the side of the road, “so the driver was able to walk away,” he said.
Reading over notes from police files, the sergeant told the Albertan with regards to the OHV rollover in the back country northwest of Sundre toward Rocky Mountain House that the operator was declared deceased at the scene. He could not immediately confirm whether the male was wearing a helmet.
With camping season still in full swing and plenty of people seeking to relax and enjoy the great outdoors, the Sundre RCMP received some reinforcements to conduct enhanced patrols over the long weekend.
“We brought in two additional members to do ATV patrols in the back country along the camping roads,” he said. “And then we had three additional members to support the members that were working this weekend.”
But in the end, it was “not the most exciting long weekend, which is good for the town and area,” he said, adding two traffic tickets for speeding were issued.
“I think everything went well,” he said. “There really wasn’t any huge disturbances; just the regular noise complaints here or there. But other than that, it was really minor in my opinion.”
The sergeant also candidly confessed his perspective was shaped by his past experience following years in urban policing.
“I’m kind of comparing this to what I’ve seen in the city, where there’s a lot more altercations,” he said. “To me, it was fairly quiet.”
The Alberta RCMP issued on Aug. 9 a press statement breaking down province-wide statistics that included an overall number of 2,317 traffic tickets being written up for infractions such as: speeding, 1,195; seat belt violations, 69; and distracted driving, 38.
Additionally Mounties reportedly charged 83 impaired drivers, and there across Alberta were four fatalities as a result of vehicle collisions.
Meanwhile, members of the Sundre Fire Department responded to 14 calls over the same period of time.
Chief Ross Clews said firefighters attended eight emergency medical service calls, two motor vehicle collisions, two alarm calls that turned out to be false, a call about an outside fire that ended up being a flare stack, as well as a structure fire west of Sundre that turned out to be a controlled burn of an old outbuilding, he said.
The recent precipitation, he said when asked, has played a role in helping to keep at bay the risk of wildfire threat.
“The moisture is well received in the province right now because it has slowed down the wildfires,” he said, adding that not only have active fires elsewhere in the province slowed down, but the risk of new blazes breaking out has also been reduced.
“We haven’t been called out on any legitimate outside fires in the last month,” he said.
