Truck driver burns to death as would be rescuers watch
Flames push back other driver, off-duty officer
Two would-be rescuers watched in horror as a fuel-truck driver was burned alive on Sunday.
Two tanker trucks were travelling west on Highway 16, about 20 kilometres east of Sherwood Park, when one of the vehicles rear-ended the other at around 2:45 p.m., said Const. Wally Henry with the Strathcona County RCMP.
“Why the driver of that vehicle rear-ended the other vehicle we don’t know yet,” Henry said.
The rear-ended truck, owned by Gibson Energy, was carrying crude oil.
The truck had only minor damage to its rear end.
RCMP said the Gibson truck had just turned off Rural Route 215 and was merging into traffic when it was struck from behind.
The other truck went off the road into the ditch. Its cabin quickly caught fire with the driver trapped inside.
Henry said the Gibson truck driver and an off-duty Strathcona police officer tried to pull the driver of the burning tanker from the wreck.
“It caught fire so fast that he was alive after the collision, but they were unable to get him out of the vehicle and for their own safety moved to get away,” Henry said.
The man driving the truck, its sole occupant, was dead at the scene.
Police had not confirmed his identity early Sunday evening. RCMP are trying to determine where the driver was coming from, and how long he’d been on the road.
The tanks carried by that truck were empty.
The Gibson truck driver suffered undisclosed injuries, but Henry said it’s believed they are not serious.
“He’s pretty shaken up with what happened with the other driver and he’s questioning how he got rear-ended, as we all are at this point,” Henry said.
Highway 16 was closed from Range Roads 214 to 215 for several hours on Sunday as RCMP investigated the crash.