Slow down: Very slippery conditions on southern Interior roads

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The snow has created extremely slippery conditions on roads and highways in the southern Interior today, prompting first responders to ask drivers to slow down.

Some regions are expecting between five to 10 centimetres of snow before it eases to flurries this afternoon, Jan. 16, according to Environment Canada.

There are several reports rollovers and car crashes as drivers deal with the extremely slippery conditions.

In the Kamloops area, there were four crashes at the same location this morning on the Yellowhead Highway at the Sun Rivers turnoff including two involving responding fire trucks, Kamloops Fire Rescue Platoon Capt. Jeff Bell says.

No one was hurt and damage to the fire truck was minor, but Bell has a warning for drivers.

“The roads are horrible out there right now. It’s just right at the temperature the snow on the roads is just like grease,” he says. “People are driving too fast for the conditions.”

Meanwhile, a rollover on Highway 97 just south of Vernon around 9:30 a.m. today sent a young woman to hospital with minor injuries.

Vernon Fire Department Capt. Dan Walker says the southbound vehicle ended up on its roof in the ditch just past Birnie Road and crews had to extract the trapped driver.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.