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Schuylkill emergency crews to get special ‘Thank you’ from north of the border
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ALTAMONT — The annual fire truck parade held on the first day of the Altamont Fire Company block party will have about 30 special guests from Canada, all of whom are coming to Schuylkill County to say “Thank you.”
The show of gratitude will come from Canadian volunteer firefighter, Doug Barnett, his family and friends for the assistance local emergency personnel provided at a crash April 10 on Interstate 81 that claimed the life of his long-time friend, Donn Atchinson, and injured two other friends riding in his minivan.
As the parade starts at 7 p.m. Friday from the fire company grounds, there will be two vintage fire trucks from the Kemptville Fire Department in it — a 1914 International fire truck and a 1941 International “triple combination pumper.”
Kemptville is located in the Canadian province of Ontario, about a half-hour drive south of the nation’s capital, Ottawa. It has a population of 3,500 and is the seat of the rural municipality of North Grenville, which has 14,000 people.
Altamont Fire Chief Knute Brayford is thrilled to welcome their special guests, who will be arriving Friday afternoon to the Frackville area.
“We do get thank you cards and letters from local people who we assist at fires and accidents, but we’re not contacted by people outside the area when we respond to an accident on the interstate,” said Brayford. “So, at least in 14 years at the Altamont, this will be the first time we are formally thanked not only from out of the area, but also from out of the country.”
Brayford said the show of gratitude is for all fire, police and emergency personnel who assisted at the accident, not just Altamont. It was just a matter of timing for the parade.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, April 10, traffic has slowed near the Frackville exit of I-81 in the southbound lanes for an accident involving a coal truck that overturned about a mile away. State police reported that Errol D. Copeland, of Covington, Ga., allegedly failed to slow down or stop when he reached to the traffic tie-up and slammed into the Barnett minivan at high speed, pushing it into the left lane and into the side of a box van. Copeland’s tractor-trailer then struck several other vehicles before the tractor separated from the trailer and came to rest on its side.
Barnett, of Kemptville, along with passengers Atchison, David McFadden and Kurt Poepplau, all of Oxford Mills, were taken to regional hospitals with serious to critical injuries. Atchinson, a 56-year-old St. Lawrence College dean of business and technology, died later at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.
The four men were on their way to Williamsburg, Va., for a golf vacation when the accident happened. Barnett is still recuperating from his injuries.
Ronald Zajac of The Brockville Recorder & Times in Ontario assisted with this story.
The show of gratitude will come from Canadian volunteer firefighter, Doug Barnett, his family and friends for the assistance local emergency personnel provided at a crash April 10 on Interstate 81 that claimed the life of his long-time friend, Donn Atchinson, and injured two other friends riding in his minivan.
As the parade starts at 7 p.m. Friday from the fire company grounds, there will be two vintage fire trucks from the Kemptville Fire Department in it — a 1914 International fire truck and a 1941 International “triple combination pumper.”
Kemptville is located in the Canadian province of Ontario, about a half-hour drive south of the nation’s capital, Ottawa. It has a population of 3,500 and is the seat of the rural municipality of North Grenville, which has 14,000 people.
Altamont Fire Chief Knute Brayford is thrilled to welcome their special guests, who will be arriving Friday afternoon to the Frackville area.
“We do get thank you cards and letters from local people who we assist at fires and accidents, but we’re not contacted by people outside the area when we respond to an accident on the interstate,” said Brayford. “So, at least in 14 years at the Altamont, this will be the first time we are formally thanked not only from out of the area, but also from out of the country.”
Brayford said the show of gratitude is for all fire, police and emergency personnel who assisted at the accident, not just Altamont. It was just a matter of timing for the parade.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, April 10, traffic has slowed near the Frackville exit of I-81 in the southbound lanes for an accident involving a coal truck that overturned about a mile away. State police reported that Errol D. Copeland, of Covington, Ga., allegedly failed to slow down or stop when he reached to the traffic tie-up and slammed into the Barnett minivan at high speed, pushing it into the left lane and into the side of a box van. Copeland’s tractor-trailer then struck several other vehicles before the tractor separated from the trailer and came to rest on its side.
Barnett, of Kemptville, along with passengers Atchison, David McFadden and Kurt Poepplau, all of Oxford Mills, were taken to regional hospitals with serious to critical injuries. Atchinson, a 56-year-old St. Lawrence College dean of business and technology, died later at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.
The four men were on their way to Williamsburg, Va., for a golf vacation when the accident happened. Barnett is still recuperating from his injuries.
Ronald Zajac of The Brockville Recorder & Times in Ontario assisted with this story.
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