‘Get out of here!’: Warman man recounts happening upon Alberta crash scene

A Warman man is thankful his family stopped for gas in Hanna, Alta. on Tuesday afternoon, after he became one of the first people to come across the scene of a horrific 10-vehicle pileup on Highway 9 between Hanna and Kindersley.

Dore Germo said he and his family were the fourth vehicle to slow down and stop in front of thick black smoke on the highway just after 3:30 p.m.

He said people were slowing down for a construction zone already, and everyone in his vehicle thought they were coming up on a wildfire at first.

“Off in the distance behind us we could see flashing lights, which turned out to be ambulances and fire trucks,” he said.

“From where we were sitting it just looked like the grass was on fire.”

A few minutes later, as they were waiting, Germo said a police officer came running down the middle of the road waving his arms at the stopped vehicles.

“He was waving everybody to leave,” Germo said.

“I rolled my window down and he yelled, ‘get out of here! Get out of here!’”

Traffic was directed onto a grid road, and as Germo’s family pulled away the smoke shifted — revealing the carnage of the crash scene.

He said cars were in the ditch, and on the road around the flaming tanker truck.

“What was eerie about it was it just looked like a bomb had gone off, there were burnt out vehicles,” he said. “It was horrible.”

According to officials, three people were killed in the collision and others were sent to hospital. Two of the survivors are in critical condition.

Germo told 650 CKOM the rest of the way home his family couldn’t help but think what could have happened.

“Thankfully we did (gas up),” he said.

“Absolutely ran through our minds … it’s sickening almost.”

He added his family is praying for those affected by the crash.

Highway 9 was expected to be shut down between Cereal and Chinook, Alta. until at least noon on Wednesday.