One pedestrian was taken to hospital after apparently being hit by a Hummer, but most people avoided serious injury during the numerous crashes Burnaby firefighters attended during Friday’s snowstorm.
The big dump of snow created mayhem on Metro Vancouver roads, and the Burnaby Fire Department responded to 18 crashes – 13 between 10:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. alone.
“A lot of them were on the hills, like Royal Oak hill, Beta and Lougheed, Canada Way,” assistant fire Chief Barry Mawhinney said. “Weather always plays a part in how many MVAs we go to. … This is probably what you’re going to get when it snows.”
Most of Friday’s collisions involved vehicles sliding into poles or into one another, and firefighters worked to ensure struck poles didn’t create electrical hazards and vehicles were safe to drive.
“Even if the airbag hasn’t gone off, you’ve got to look at the amount of damage because, you start driving the vehicle again, they could go off, which is always a concern,” Mawhinney said.
While most incidents didn’t result in significant injury, according to the assistant fire Chief, one crash on Sixth Street saw a Hummer come to rest against a pole after apparently striking a pedestrian to the ground.
