Over the last month, the Bentley Fire Department has responded to eight calls:
Over the last month, the Bentley Fire Department has responded to eight calls, seven of which were motor vehicle collisions of one kind or another. With the unpredictable weather and cycles of snowing and melting, this isn’t overly surprising. The members of the Bentley Fire Department would like to encourage our residents to drive to the conditions, even if that means taking just a bit more time to get wherever you are going.
On February 27, fourteen members responded to a report of a snowmobile accident. The rider of the snowmobile hit an approach while riding in a ditch and suffered lower extremity injuries. The Bentley Fire Department assisted with patient care and transfer to the ambulance, as well as providing scene lighting and traffic control. The patient was transported to the hospital by ambulance.
On February 28, the fire department was called out to a single vehicle rollover. The patient had managed to crawl out of the vehicle, which was on its roof, before help arrived. The eight responding firefighters assisted the EMS crew with patient care and transfer to the waiting ambulance. The patient was transported to hospital with head/facial injuries.
On March 3, in very winter-like conditions, the fire department responded to a collision between a cargo trailer carrying empty bottles and another vehicle at a highway intersection. There were no injuries, but glass and other debris from the accident was scattered over a large area of the road. Traffic was diverted on one end of the incident until clean-up was completed. At this time, we are still uncertain if that many broken bottles can be returned for a refund.
On March 10, we had another single vehicle rollover with the truck resting on its roof. Again, the driver was able to self-extricate while a passerby called 9-1-1. The eight firefighters who were able to attend during the weekday provided traffic control while the patient was tended by EMS. The patient was transported to hospital by ambulance.
On March 13, three vehicles were involved in an accident at a bus highway intersection east of town. In spite of significant damage to two of the vehicles, there were only minor injuries. The ten attending Bentley members assisted with patient care, traffic control and clean-up. Although it is not up to the fire department to determine the cause of an accident, we would like to remind drivers that turning lanes, especially on the right, are not passing lanes. Enough said.
On March 18, two vehicle collided at a busy intersection just out of town. There were no serious injuries, but traffic control was needed to keep the scene safe while the occupants were checked out and RCMP investigated. The nine members attending were kept busy securing and cleaning up the scene until they were released by RCMP.
Our seventh motor vehicle collision in a row was on March 19, involving a vehicle hitting a deer. None of the family members in the vehicle were injured, although the deer did not fare as well. This was an unusual incident in that only fire department officers attended this particular call. Without the hardworking firefighters to order around, we were all at a bit of a loss to begin with, but managed to control traffic and provide assistance until being released by the RCMP member who attended the accident.
Finally, on March 20, seven members braved less than ideal road conditions to attend a reported alarms call that was soon upgrade to a structure fire, as smoke was present in the house. Another department, in this case Blackfalds, was also dispatched for mutual aid, as is policy for all structure fires in Lacombe County. In spite of an incorrect address provided by the alarm company, both departments managed to find the residence and investigate. No smoke was present when we arrived and in spite of a thorough investigation with a Thermal Imaging Camera, no cause of the smoke could be found.
Several members of the Bentley Fire Department, along with firefighters from other Lacombe County Departments, participated in a Hazardous Materials course in March. In it, they learned how to deal with everything from small oil spills to the release of a toxic chemical over a wide area. This course, which required around 40 hours of training PLUS time to read and study the material, is just one of many that your Bentley Firefighters volunteer their time to take. We hope we never need to deal with a serious hazardous materials incident but, if we do, we are more prepared and ready to tackle such a situation.