A man from Springhill, N.S., has died after police say he was hit by a fire truck that was responding to a snowmobile crash in Collingwood Corner, N.S.
RCMP, along with firefighters and paramedics, responded to a report of a snowmobile crash on Wyvern Road, near Poison Lake in Cumberland County, around 10:20 p.m. Friday.
When police arrived, officers learned the snowmobile went off the road and hit a snowbank before coming to a rest.
“He was the lone rider on the snowmobile, driving on the roadway at the time of the crash, collided with the snowbank,” RCMP Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay told CTV News Monday afternoon.
“Witnesses that rendered first aid to him heard the crash, came upon the crash of the snowmobile, and called for help. At that time, first responders arrived, and that’s when the fire truck collided and struck the snowmobile rider.”
Police say the driver of the snowmobile, a 28-year-old man, died a short time later.
Both the snowmobile and fire truck have been seized, according to an RCMP news release.
The Municipality of Cumberland says the driver of the fire truck “has stepped aside from all duties in the Department pending the outcome of the investigation.”
The investigation is ongoing but police don’t believe the firefighter who was driving the truck was impaired at the time.
“I can tell you that investigators at the scene did not have suspicion that impairment was a factor, so they don’t believe that alcohol or drugs was a factor,” said Tremblay.
“At the time of the collision the roadway was covered with hard, packed snow, it was nighttime, so there’s a lot of factors to take into consideration.”
Wes Fellows lives in front of where the fatal crash occurred, but wasn’t home at the time.
He did share surveillance video with CTV News and said there are a lot of avid snowmobile riders that use the trail system in the area.
“This is the first crash that I’ve heard of,” said Fellows. “I’m new here, so this is my first winter. Lots of snowmobiles, yeah.”
CTV News reached out to the municipality for comment, but did not hear back by news time.
The Nova Scotia RCMP Collision and Reconstruction Service team is assisting with the ongoing investigation, which is in its early stages.
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