Seven dead at 63 crash

Seven people are dead and two others are in hospital after a head-on collision north of Wandering River last Friday that locals are calling “horrific.”

On April 27, a pickup truck carrying three people travelling northbound on Highway 63 crossed the centerline in an attempt to pass and collided with another truck carrying six people.

Rev. Shannon Wheaton, a children’s pastor, and his wife and two-year-old son are confirmed deceased, as well as pregnant woman Courtney Penney. An 11-year-old girl also died, while two other deceased haven’t had their ages or gender released as of press time.

A 34-year-old man, who was taken to the Lac La Biche hospital before being flown to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, and a three-year-old boy survived the accident.

Hal Pressling, Fire Chief for the Plamondon Fire Department, who responded to the accident, said the crash was the worst in his two decades of firefighting.

“How can I put it in words? It’s beyond anything that you could ever train for,” Pressling said, who noted that he wasn’t at the scene since he was out of town at the time.

The veteran firefighter said members of his department are taking full advantage of counselling services to work through the horrors of the wreckage they saw. But he said that Plamondon will continue to respond to crashes, and urges drivers to slow down on Highway 63.

“If we don’t respond, who else will?” Pressling said. “People need to drive according to conditions, hopefully we won’t see this horror again.”