On Saturday, the Airdrie Fire Department (AFD) responded to a major chain-reaction collision on the QEII. Winter conditions led to crashes involving 18 to 50 vehicles over a two-kilometre stretch.
Airdrie Fire Chief Mike Pirie confirmed that AFD deployed all available city resources to manage the emergency, which required multiple extractions and coordinated efforts with EMS and RCMP.
Emergency Response and Scale of the Incident
The initial call came in for a collision involving two semis and a passenger vehicle on the southbound lanes of the QEII near South 40 Avenue. However, as AFD’s rescue truck approached, crews quickly realized the situation was much larger.
"The rescue truck, when it was going there, saw many more accidents north of that location," Pirie said. "They started calling in. They called in the other two stations because three big clumps of vehicles spread over about a two-kilometre distance. They sent a truck to each one."
The department was directly involved with 18 vehicles, though estimates suggested up to 50 vehicles were caught in the chaos, with many leaving the scene before emergency services arrived.
511 Alberta issued an alert at 12:38 p.m., warning travellers of the severity of the situation:
"SB QEII near Jct Hwy 566, north of Calgary – multiple MVCs. Traffic is at a standstill. Road conditions are icy, and visibility is poor. Avoid travel until conditions improve."
Fire Crews Performed Three Extrications
With vehicles scattered across multiple impact points, AFD focused on triage and extractions.
"We had estimates of up to about 50 [vehicles], so it sounds like AFD was directly involved with about 18 of them," Pirie said. "Our initial efforts were to triage how many people needed medical attention and how many needed to be cut out of cars. It says here extrication. So we did three extrications."
Despite the scale of the crash, no fires or hazardous materials posed a risk beyond vehicle fluids such as oil and coolant spilled onto the highway.
Coordination with EMS and RCMP
The RCMP managed traffic control, secured the highway, and gathered details at the scene. On the medical side, EMS worked closely with AFD at an on-site command post.
“We had an EMS supervisor in our command post," Pirie said. "We had seven ambulances and one hazardous materials paramedic—I believe they call them IRP, which is an incident response paramedic unit. And we fire-triaged the patients to identify which ones are the most critical. Then EMS could take those patients in that order and do their transport."
DiscoverAirdrie has reached out to Alberta EMS to verify the extent of the injuries.
Safety Recommendations for Drivers
Pirie urged drivers to take winter road safety seriously, especially as conditions remain dangerous.
"...Blowing snow means reduced visibility, [which means] reducing speed—that is the number one way to help prevent these accidents," he said.
Beyond slowing down, Pirie emphasized emergency preparedness.
"I believe a lot of people learned this lesson—being prepared in vehicles, not just necessarily for crashes, but a vehicle to have a mechanical problem," he said.
Many drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles and had no warm clothing while waiting for assistance.
"Many people were not prepared to leave their vehicles, so we had to put them in other people's vehicles, in our fire trucks, and we brought in a city bus," Pirie said. "Be prepared—like footwear, jackets, toques, mitts, things like that. We take for granted that nothing will happen when you're driving a highway between cities.”
AFD Resources Were Fully Deployed
AFD stretched its resources to the limit to handle the emergency.
"We used every city resource available to deal with the collisions on the highway," Pirie confirmed. "We called in some staff to try to backfill at one of our stations."
Looking ahead, Pirie said AFD does not anticipate further special preparations.
"We're not doing any special preparations for what's upcoming," he said. "After things like this, you tend to see the speeds reduce and fewer collisions. That's our experience."
While the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s crash has been managed, winter conditions continue to pose a threat.
According to Environment Canada’s forecast, today will be mainly cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of flurries, a high of minus 26, and a wind chill near minus 33, with frostbite risk.
Light snow will begin before morning tonight, with temperatures dropping to minus 30 and wind chill hitting minus 41 overnight, posing a frostbite risk in minutes. Tomorrow, light snow will end in the afternoon, giving way to a mix of sun and cloud, with wind chill near minus 41 in the morning and minus 30 in the afternoon, again with frostbite risk. Tuesday night will see clear skies and a low of minus 36.
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