A Steinbach man is in critical but stable condition after the semi that he was driving collided with a fire truck on Highway 1, near Portage la Prairie.
On September 6, 2012, at about 1:30pm, Headingley RCMP Detachment along with local area fire were dispatched to a semi tractor trailer who required assistance due to a diesel fuel spill on Highway 1, near the junction of Highway 26.
RCMP and Fire responded and as a matter of course, one of the eastbound lanes of traffic was blocked off to allow for clean-up.
RCMP report that about 45 minutes later, an eastbound semi trailer, for reasons that remain under investigation, collided with the fire truck on scene, lost control of the semi and hit the back side of the semi tractor trailer stationary on scene. The impact of the collision resulted in two fire personnel and one RCMP officer on scene being thrown to the ground.
Police say that the driver of the first semi tractor trailer, a 65-year-old man from Ontario, was not injured. The RCMP officer and the two fire personnel suffered non-life threatening injuries.
An off-duty paramedic stopped at the scene and provided care to the driver of the semi trailer who collided with the fire truck and the semi. The driver, a 29-year-old Steinbach man, was air lifted to hospital and was last reported in critical but stable condition.
An RCMP Traffic Reconstructionist is assisting with the investigation.
