Firefighters and other emergency workers from around the province attended the funeral of Darrell James Morrison, a Rosetown firefighter, on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
Crossroads staff
Firefighters and other emergency workers from around the province attended the funeral of a Rosetown firefighter who died from his injuries at a crash scene.
Darrell James Morrison, 46, died in the local hospital on Nov. 21 after fellow firefighters treated him at the scene.
An honour guard of more than 300 firefighters marched to the celebration of Morrison’s life at the Rosetown civic centre, led by Pastor Dan Esau.
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The incident happened on Highway 4 about 25 kilometres north of the town. Firefighters from Rosetown and Biggar and Rosetown police and ambulance staff had gone to the scene of a collision between two semi-trailer units.
“Darrell was a great guy to work with who could always make me laugh; I’ll miss that,” Fire Chief Dennis Ogg said in a statement on the town’s website, also expressing appreciation for condolences received from across the country.
Morrison “perished doing something he loved and I hope we can spend some time celebrating Darrell’s life and supporting his family through this difficult time,” Ogg said.
“Our hearts are heavy as we offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends, first responders and all community members impacted by this tragedy,” the Town of Rosetown statement said. “We are heartbroken that a volunteer first responder from our community lost his life helping others.”
A West Central Crisis and Family Support Centre trauma team provided counselling.
In the original collision, a unit turning north had entered the highway from the west when the other, heading south, hit it, a Rosetown RCMP statement said. Neither driver was hurt. Road conditions were icy and there was heavy fog in the air.
A third semi-trailer unit arriving on the accident scene swerved and went into a ditch, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Rob King said later.
The fourth, which hit Morrison, was travelling south and the driver stopped at the scene, King said. Collision experts are determining how and why both collisions happened, King said, adding that it would take at least three months before they deliver a report.
A statement on the website of the Saskatchewan Volunteer Fire Fighters Association said members were “deeply saddened by the news of the line-of-duty death of a member of the Rosetown Fire Department,” expressing “our most sincere condolences” to Fire Chief Ogg, department members and their families.
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