ROLLOVER CRASH OF MAPLE RIDGE (BC, CANADA) ENGINE 1-SEAT BELTS WORN BY ALL
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

On January 27, 2008 at approximately 3:00 a.m., Maple Ridge Engine-1 was responding to a report of a motor vehicle accident with trapped occupants. While on route to the accident, Engine 1 encountered glare black ice on Dewdney Trunk Road; this resulted in the Engine going sideways down the road and eventually spinning around backwards and striking the curb near the intersection of 210th Street and Dewdney Trunk Road. At this point the truck rolled onto the driver’s side shearing off a large hydro transmission pole at the base.

The pole carrying 60,000 kva transmission lines then fell down onto the truck. This resulted in a blinding series of arcing for the firefighters and a large power outage in Maple Ridge, and parts of the neighbouring community of Pitt Meadows. The Captain on the Engine had the presence of mind to tell his firefighters to remain where they were and to not exit the truck; he also radioed Dispatch to call for assistance and updated the Rescue Truck, which was responding just blocks behind them, to caution them of the road conditions and tell them what happened. When the Officer of the Rescue Truck arrived on scene he resisted the temptation to rush in and assist the trapped firefighters, instead he set up a perimeter to protect the public and informed BC Hydro of the situation.

The fact that all four firefighters in the fire truck were not injured and reported for duty shift the next evening is nothing short of a miracle and a testament to the professionalism and training of all the firefighters involved. Maple Ridge Fire Department has a very strict training policy in
regards to seatbelt use, which in the end saved these firefighters from serious injury. We are very proud of the actions of all the firefighters involved in this incident, and without question relieved that no one was injured. However, it is extremely unfortunate that the damage to Engine one is so extensive that it is not likely to be repaired, fortunately this truck is over 20 years old and was scheduled to be replaced with a new truck that arrived last week.

The moral to this story is that seat belts save lives; also it can happen to you. The driver of the Engine is one of our most experienced driver’s. Prior to him joining the department as a fulltime firefighter his fulltime job was as a professional truck driver and one of his steady routes was driving semi-trucks up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler everyday in all kinds of winter
conditions. In the end it was adherence to guidelines, good training and a culture of “safety comes first” that resulted in these firefighters going home to have breakfast with their families.


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Great to hear (not the accident of course, but the outcome). To all of those who think seatbelts are "dumb" or worn only by "safety nazis" or "don't actually save lives", take note!!
Well praise the lord and pass the potatoes......looks like a couple of "dumb caveman firemen" got the seatbelt message.
"I'm over 18 and noone can tell me to wear a seat belt." LOL remember that in the other forum?? Well lookie here, these firefighters (through either policy or common sense) had their LIVES saved by wearing their seat belts. Need more proof? Seatbelts save lives.
Furthermore I find it amazing that we have the drive and ambition to save someone elses life yet we have some who don't take the corrective and preventative measurements to save their own.
Saw this headline and had to read this story.On the way to my class tonite I was riding with a friend and when I put my seatbelt on he asked if I was scared of his driving and laughed.I told him no I always wear my seatbelt even in the firetruck.He thought it was kinda funny but I hope it put an idea into his head.I'm going to forward this lil story to him tonite and see if maybe it can help him see just why I wear a seltbelt.Thanks for sharing it with us,no telling how many lives this story will save.I'm happy to hear everyone in the story was either smart enough or trained well enough to save themselves.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Hi I was cruising around some Fire Images this morning and came across this bit here that might be of some interest.I can not tell you if seat belts were worn or not.But you might like to have a look at the photos of the Crash Rig involved.It rolled 3 times on a high speed turn.If you go to this link and scroll down the page you will come to the photos.There are 3 very good images of the incident.I while on my first tour at CFB Trenton had the unfortunate pleasure of resonding to a rool over of a RIV we had at the time some major damage occured to the unit at the time....any how here is the link.....http://www.politics.bm/archives/2007/01/index.html
Good evening all. The city fire dept. here in Amarillo had an engine rollover enroute to a call on the interstate Thursday Morning. All of the personnel on board were properly belted in and walked away with minimal injuries. This is a far different outcome than in 2005 when a firefighter from the same dept. fell out of a moving ladder truck on a call, and died from his injuries about a day later, Seat Belts do work and save lives, so when the tones drop, STOP and THINK andhopefully we can reduce the number of deaths due to apparatus accidents. Stay safe out there !
I work with someone like this Amanda. I put on my belt and he started to tell me why I shouldn't. He claimed that you have a better chance of survival if you are thrown clear of the vehicle. Interesting logic. I asked him what he thought his survival rate would be if he was lodged in the windshield, or jammed in the side window as the vehicle rolled. I then asked him how he would feel if I wzs belted in, safe and sound and the injury that caused my death was a blow to the head when he became a projectile. He seems to think the chances of that are low. Wow, the logic. lol

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