A man has died after being involved in a single-vehicle rollover on Main Street between Summerfield Boulevard and Erin Drive and plummeting into Nose Creek in Airdrie on March 20.
The driver and lone occupant of a Mitsubishi Lancer was travelling northbound on Main Street, when he lost control and left the roadway before striking a fence and flipping his car upside down and then plunging into Nose Creek.
Airdrie Fire Department (AFD), Airdrie RCMP and Alberta Health Services paramedics attended the scene. The AFD members were equipped with ice rescue suits and entered the water and needed the jaws of life to enter the vehicle and extricate the driver.
“Because the vehicle was upside down, the weight of the engine had submerged most of the car,” said AFD Deputy Chief Garth Rabel. “Our guys went in with their power tools and had to forcibly open the door in order to get to the driver, once they got him out of his seatbelt and on shore, he was taken into the care of paramedics and transported to hospital.”
The man was unconscious when he was brought ashore, and a member of the AFD acted in a support role for paramedics while the man was transported to hospital with what were declared life-threatening injuries at the time.
He was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. The name and age of the man are being withheld by police until notification of next of kin.
Two AFD members were taken to Airdrie Urgent Care to be evaluated and treated for exposure to the extreme conditions.
Main Street between Summerfield Boulevard and Erin Drive was closed down around noon while a RCMP Collision Reconstructionist conducted an investigation. It was re-open around 2:30 p.m.
Road conditions at the time of the accident were poor with ice, blowing snow and poor visibility.
RCMP continue to investigate, more information to follow.
