Tuesday's snowfall sparks crazy morning for Nelson Fire Rescue
By Nelson Daily Staff
Tuesday’s heavy snowfall saw Nelson Fire Rescue respond to numerous calls for service said Assistant Fire Chief Daloise in a media release.
The phone started ringing with calls at 8:20 a.m. when firefighters received call for service for a slip and fall on the ice and concluded in the early afternoon with a report of a car fire in Fairview.
“In the first 10 days of the year Nelson Fire and Rescue has responded to 37 calls for assistance,” Daloise explained.
Daloise said after the two on-duty members responded to upper Fairview slip, which resulted in an injured leg, a call came in almost immediately of a motor vehicle collision on Granite Road involving a school bus with more than 30 children on board.
“Upon arrival, there was minor damage to the bus and significant damage to the car,” Daloise said.
“No injuries were reported but all students were checked out by EHS paramedics and Dr. Sparrow, the community response doctor.”
RCMP are investigating the cause of the incident and Yellowhead Road & Bridge (YRB) workers controlled traffic.
Daloise said Nelson Fire and Rescue Services cleaned up an oil leak from the bus, helped secure the scene, and assisted the other agencies.
The next call came after a fire alarm was triggered at a local school.
Daloise said a called-in member responded to the school and determined there was no hazard.
However, while returning from the first motor vehicle incident the crews happened upon another accident on Highway 3A/6 near Pacific Insight. “There was minor damage and no injuries at this scene as the pickup truck had left the roadway and was in the snow in the ditch,” Daloise said.
“As crews were getting back to the station, a report of a vehicle fire in upper Fairview came in.”
Daloise said two members responded and arrived to find an older GMC Jimmy on fire with flames coming from under the hood.
“The two members were able to extinguish the fire, there was significant damage within the engine compartment, and relatively minor fire damage to the interior of the vehicle,” he said.
“The cause of the fire is suspected to be electrical in nature.
“As a result of the smoke from the vehicle fire being drawn into the air handling system the Nelson Christian Community School was temporarily evacuated until the crew could assist with exhausting the smoke.”
That was not the end to the call outs as crews responded to a biohazard call in a public location involving discarded needles and a small amount of blood.
By about 1 p.m. things had normalized with one other emergency call coming in later in the day.
However, Nelson Fire Rescue may see more calls another major storm is heading into the BC Interior.
Environment Canada said an arctic front sliding southward across the BC Interior today is leaving much colder air in its wake. Meanwhile, an approaching pacific storm will move across the southern BC interior Thursday. Moisture from this system will combine with the cold air and result in heavy snow for the Kootenay and Southern Interior regions.
The snow will begin overnight and ease Thursday evening. Widespread snowfall amounts of 10 to 15 cm are expected. Locally heavier amounts up to 20 cm are possible over high elevation routes.
Nelson Fire & Rescue Services would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to check their home for fire safety. This includes, among other things, to ensure that you have working smoke alarms and that your electrical outlets are not overloaded.
