Open letter to the Yukon fire marshal’s office:
I am writing about an incident which occurred on Saturday, June 13. My ex-husband, his new partner and my daughter were involved in an unfortunate motorcycling accident heading out along the trail to Cantley Lake (off of Grey Mountain Road). Specifically, my ex-husband had a wipe-out and required emergency assistance.
Both the ambulance and the fire crew came to assist. All of them were not only very professional, but also very personable in their efforts to help. As a Yukoner for over 40 years, I was not at all surprised by this and rather incredibly proud of such a wonderful response.
However, I want to express my serious concern in regards to the rescue equipment which the crew had to use. Specifically, it was a red “quad” vehicle which they used to strap my ex-husband onto in order to get him out of the bush.
The idea was great. However, this quad-type vehicle is dated, lacked the necessary power, and in my humble opinion was rendered almost useless in this scenario given that people actually had to push the vehicle up hills in order to get out of the bush.
The vehicle, left under its own power, would never had made the hill and quite possibly could have become a hazard if there were not enough people behind it to push it up the hill. Otherwise, this rescue vehicle could have ended up rolling backwards down the hill, or potentially flopped on its side, with the injured individual strapped onto a board on this vehicle. He would have had no way to save himself at that point.
I again want to reiterate that the ambulance and fire crews which attended were awesome.
I am writing to bring your attention to what I believe to be a priority need for a new rescue machine in Yukon for the fire crews to be able to use in future rescue scenarios.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Shauna Clare, Whitehorse