Andromeda
August 21st, 2001, 10:52 AM
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
Four young lives claimed in horrific head-on crash
Car strikes tow truck near Cochrane as friends return from camping trip
By TONY SESKUS, CALGARY SUN
COCHRANE -- A horrific car crash at the end of a weekend camping trip has killed four young friends and left three others clinging to life.
Last night, the families of the seven crash victims struggled to come to terms with the tragedy.
Jeremy Fisher, 25, whose brother Andrew Fisher, 17, was killed in the crash, said to the Sun he couldn't believe his brother was gone.
"This is all so weird right now. I can't believe it," he said.
"He was a good kid. He had his whole life ahead of him."
The buddies, who were in their late teens, are all believed to have known each other through St. Francis high school.
The friends were returning from a camping trip in Waiparous, about 50 km northwest of Calgary, when the accident occurred.
The group had piled into an older model Pontiac Bonneville after one of their other cars had broken down.
Two of the group climbed into the trunk.
They were then travelling east along a flat stretch of Hwy. 1A around 8 a.m. when they met a flatbed tow truck.
The two vehicles -- for reasons still unconfirmed by police -- both swerved into the south ditch where they collided head-on.
The force of the impact ejected the two passengers in the trunk -- including survivor Jared Van Den Brink, 17 -- and also threw another passenger clear.
Paramedics, police and firefighters who arrived at the grim scene found there was little they could do.
Three 17-year-old males, including Andrew Fisher, and a 16-year-old female died at the scene.
The driver was one of those killed.
Three others, including Van Den Brink and a 17-year-old female, were rushed with a range of head and internal injuries to Foothills Hospital in Calgary by ground and air ambulance.
One man and the woman are listed in critical condition, while Van Den Brink is in serious condition.
The tow truck driver, Ron McCabe, who was working for City Wide Towing, was also taken to hospital.
He is listed in serious condition.
One friend of the group left coping with the loss says her schoolmates will never be forgotten.
"They're going to be missed very much," said 16-year-old Shannon Lydiatt, who held a vigil at Foothills Hospital with grieving friends last night.
'THEY WERE SUCH GOOD PEOPLE'
"They were such good people, the entire school is going to be in shock."
Grant Brilz, Cochrane EMS manager, said the jaws of life were used to free two passengers.
The scene of the crash was littered with debris from the camping trip, including sleeping bags, backpacks, a cooler and clothes.
The front of the car had been nearly obliterated by the force of the crash, its front bumper hanging off the front of the truck.
The car's trunk door sat eerily open hours after the accident.
"I've been a paramedic for more than 16 years and seen a lot of different types of accidents, but certainly the fact these were all young people makes it very tragic," Brilz said.
Mounties from Cochrane and a collision analyst from Calgary are trying to determine the cause of the crash.
Police have interviewed three eyewitnesses to the accident and hope to speak with tow truck driver McCabe later today.
Const. Ian Malcolm, of Cochrane RCMP, said, "It was difficult to come upon such a crash.
"It's certainly brutal. A very tough accident.
"It's very tough to see young lives cut so short."
Police are also trying to determine if alcohol was a factor in the accident and if the occupants were wearing seat-belts.
Police said the group of friends were returning from a camping trip and will look at the scene of an all-night party as part of their investigation.
A woman using the Waiparous Campground, about an hour's drive northwest of Cochrane, said a number of young adults arrived at the campsite Sunday night.
It's not yet known if the site was where the group of friends spent their final hours.
The deaths are sure to cast a grim shadow on the first day of classes at St. Francis high school, 877 Northmount Dr. N.W., on Aug. 29.
COUNSELLING AVAILABLE
The school has 2,300 students.
Calgary Catholic School Board chairwoman Linda Blasetti said grief counselling would be made available for anyone who needs it.
"Certainly our sincerest condolences are extended to all the families and we will hold them in our prayers," she said last night, adding that the school's chaplain will also be around for support.
"Again our sincerest condolences."
Meanwhile, at Foothills Hospital, distraught parents offered support to each other as a cluster of teary-eyed teens stood outside the emergency room doors.
In a Foothills Hospital bed in a room not far from that of other survivors, Ron McCabe, the 50-year-old driver of the tow truck, was recovering from his injuries.
"He's feeling a little better," his son Terry said from his dad's Cochrane home.
"But he's a little shaken up because four people are dead."
TRIED TO AVOID CRASH
McCabe told his son he "did everything in his power" to avoid the crash.
"Dad said he was driving and saw the car bounce off a guardrail right into the path of his truck," Terry said.
"He cranked it over to try and miss it, but they hit head-on in the ditch -- he didn't have a chance because it all happened so fast."
McCabe, who is in his second year driving for the towing company, has several cuts, scrapes and bruises and is wearing a neck brace.
Other than that he has no serious injuries, his son said.
"But we're not sure when he's getting out of the hospital."
~ I can't believe what happened....they were coming back from camping, same place we had been a few days ago. . Its just so horrible. An officer from Cochrane said it was the most horrible crash he'd ever seen. :(
Four young lives claimed in horrific head-on crash
Car strikes tow truck near Cochrane as friends return from camping trip
By TONY SESKUS, CALGARY SUN
COCHRANE -- A horrific car crash at the end of a weekend camping trip has killed four young friends and left three others clinging to life.
Last night, the families of the seven crash victims struggled to come to terms with the tragedy.
Jeremy Fisher, 25, whose brother Andrew Fisher, 17, was killed in the crash, said to the Sun he couldn't believe his brother was gone.
"This is all so weird right now. I can't believe it," he said.
"He was a good kid. He had his whole life ahead of him."
The buddies, who were in their late teens, are all believed to have known each other through St. Francis high school.
The friends were returning from a camping trip in Waiparous, about 50 km northwest of Calgary, when the accident occurred.
The group had piled into an older model Pontiac Bonneville after one of their other cars had broken down.
Two of the group climbed into the trunk.
They were then travelling east along a flat stretch of Hwy. 1A around 8 a.m. when they met a flatbed tow truck.
The two vehicles -- for reasons still unconfirmed by police -- both swerved into the south ditch where they collided head-on.
The force of the impact ejected the two passengers in the trunk -- including survivor Jared Van Den Brink, 17 -- and also threw another passenger clear.
Paramedics, police and firefighters who arrived at the grim scene found there was little they could do.
Three 17-year-old males, including Andrew Fisher, and a 16-year-old female died at the scene.
The driver was one of those killed.
Three others, including Van Den Brink and a 17-year-old female, were rushed with a range of head and internal injuries to Foothills Hospital in Calgary by ground and air ambulance.
One man and the woman are listed in critical condition, while Van Den Brink is in serious condition.
The tow truck driver, Ron McCabe, who was working for City Wide Towing, was also taken to hospital.
He is listed in serious condition.
One friend of the group left coping with the loss says her schoolmates will never be forgotten.
"They're going to be missed very much," said 16-year-old Shannon Lydiatt, who held a vigil at Foothills Hospital with grieving friends last night.
'THEY WERE SUCH GOOD PEOPLE'
"They were such good people, the entire school is going to be in shock."
Grant Brilz, Cochrane EMS manager, said the jaws of life were used to free two passengers.
The scene of the crash was littered with debris from the camping trip, including sleeping bags, backpacks, a cooler and clothes.
The front of the car had been nearly obliterated by the force of the crash, its front bumper hanging off the front of the truck.
The car's trunk door sat eerily open hours after the accident.
"I've been a paramedic for more than 16 years and seen a lot of different types of accidents, but certainly the fact these were all young people makes it very tragic," Brilz said.
Mounties from Cochrane and a collision analyst from Calgary are trying to determine the cause of the crash.
Police have interviewed three eyewitnesses to the accident and hope to speak with tow truck driver McCabe later today.
Const. Ian Malcolm, of Cochrane RCMP, said, "It was difficult to come upon such a crash.
"It's certainly brutal. A very tough accident.
"It's very tough to see young lives cut so short."
Police are also trying to determine if alcohol was a factor in the accident and if the occupants were wearing seat-belts.
Police said the group of friends were returning from a camping trip and will look at the scene of an all-night party as part of their investigation.
A woman using the Waiparous Campground, about an hour's drive northwest of Cochrane, said a number of young adults arrived at the campsite Sunday night.
It's not yet known if the site was where the group of friends spent their final hours.
The deaths are sure to cast a grim shadow on the first day of classes at St. Francis high school, 877 Northmount Dr. N.W., on Aug. 29.
COUNSELLING AVAILABLE
The school has 2,300 students.
Calgary Catholic School Board chairwoman Linda Blasetti said grief counselling would be made available for anyone who needs it.
"Certainly our sincerest condolences are extended to all the families and we will hold them in our prayers," she said last night, adding that the school's chaplain will also be around for support.
"Again our sincerest condolences."
Meanwhile, at Foothills Hospital, distraught parents offered support to each other as a cluster of teary-eyed teens stood outside the emergency room doors.
In a Foothills Hospital bed in a room not far from that of other survivors, Ron McCabe, the 50-year-old driver of the tow truck, was recovering from his injuries.
"He's feeling a little better," his son Terry said from his dad's Cochrane home.
"But he's a little shaken up because four people are dead."
TRIED TO AVOID CRASH
McCabe told his son he "did everything in his power" to avoid the crash.
"Dad said he was driving and saw the car bounce off a guardrail right into the path of his truck," Terry said.
"He cranked it over to try and miss it, but they hit head-on in the ditch -- he didn't have a chance because it all happened so fast."
McCabe, who is in his second year driving for the towing company, has several cuts, scrapes and bruises and is wearing a neck brace.
Other than that he has no serious injuries, his son said.
"But we're not sure when he's getting out of the hospital."
~ I can't believe what happened....they were coming back from camping, same place we had been a few days ago. . Its just so horrible. An officer from Cochrane said it was the most horrible crash he'd ever seen. :(