The driver of a vehicle involved Sunday in a fiery head-on collision with a tractor-trailer east of the city died at the scene, Prince George RCMP have confirmed.
The collision occurred on Highway 16 East between Upper Fraser Road and the Willow River rest area, one kilometer west of Tabor Mountain ski resort. Emergency crews were called to the scene at about 11:20 a.m.
The truck blocked both lanes and the scene was closed down for the rest of the day while officers gathered evidence and crews worked to clear the scene.
The tractor-trailer's two occupants escaped without serious injury and were taken to hospital for treatment. Other than to say the deceased was an adult male, no further details were provided on his identity.
Karlee Styler of Prince George was out with her fiancé Jeffrey Moore celebrating her 27th birthday on the way Crescent Spur when they arrived at the accident scene shortly after the collision at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
“It was pretty scary, to be honest, not something you’d like to see on a birthday drive,” said Styler. “We came up on the accident after it had happened and the road was already blocked. It looked like it was a tanker truck carrying what, I'm not sure. The driver of the tanker truck did manage to get out of his truck and was OK but I also heard through the grapevine that it was a head-on collision with another vehicle. Not sure what type though.”
Styler said the overturned tanker was already on fire when they arrived and within minutes flames and heavy smoke were coming from the truck.
“It was already in flames when we had gotten there so we couldn’t have been too far behind when the accident happened because there were only about four or five vehicles in front of us when we arrived,” she said. “The tanker truck was laying across both lanes blocking traffic. Someone said there was a car in the ditch on the other side but I couldn’t see that.”
Styler said the RCMP arrived about 15 minutes after they were stopped, followed by the Ferndale-Tabor Volunteer Fire Department and two ambulances.
An off-duty firefighter from McBride "assisted greatly at the scene," RCMP said.
- with files from Mark Nielsen, Citizen
