OPP call centre "crazy" from winter storm calls

It usually takes Tim Foster about 20 minutes to get to work from his Astorville home.

But Tuesday morning the Ontario Provincial Police sergeant spent almost 90 minutes on the road before making it into the North East Region headquarters.

Foster, pictured here, manages the OPP communications centre in North Bay, which was being flooded with calls due to the sudden and quick arrival of snow, sleet and wind.

“It’s been just crazy today,” Foster said.
“It took me 30 minutes just to get from the scales on the highway around the corner to headquarters. I felt like I was driving in Toronto, in a parking lot.”

Accidents not serious
Between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., Foster said, the centre received calls about 23 fender benders in the region.

“We had people here standing up talking to each other across the room making sure they weren’t taking calls about accidents which had already been phoned in,” Foster said.

“It used to be accidents were called in via land lines. Now so many people have cell phones and when they drive past an accident they call it in. So we had to make sure there are no duplications.”

Fortunately, Foster said, none of the accidents were serious.

Highway reopened
OPP Sgt Laura Nichols said 3 p.m. Tuesday that 105 accidents had taken place around the region, again none of them serious.

Hwy 17 East was closed twice at Bonfield due to tractor-trailers jackknifing, although all highways in the region have been reopened, Nichols said.

Earlier Tuesday icy conditions made it difficult for traffic to navigate Thibeault Hill and College Drive.

“But what’s helping is that people are driving with caution,” Nichols said, “and that’s helped avoid serious accidents.”