HIGHWAY HEROES
There is a Canadian TV series that follows the heroes of our most dangerous highways, and our most incredible highway accidents in the province of British Columbia. They are the heavy wreck rescuers — incredibly smart, devoted and determined angels who can unravel any roadway mishap with confidence and carefully planned, precision decisions, under any weather or road conditions.
The show is called Highway Thru Hell and features the unique rescue operations of Jamie Davis’s Motor Truck and Auto business undertaking the rescuing of the most scary and unbelievable big rig accidents on the mountain pass highways. He often teams up with other extreme road assistance companies like Aggressive Towing and Reliable Towing, and that is where this story begins.
Today I undertook a journey from the burbs to the big city. I started along the Lougheed Highway heading west and up ahead I spotted a massive tow truck. It continued along the Mary Hill ByPass and as we approached a traffic light, I found myself stopped right beside it. I smiled when I saw the word RELIABLE on the driver’s door. I honked at the driver, waved and smiled. I could not see his face at the time because his seat was very high up and I was a mere midget in my regular sized car. As he drove off, I stayed behind a tad to get a better look at the driver — he was one of the guys I often see on the show.
“Wow”, I said to myself. “I wonder where he is going?”
He continued on ahead of me, exited the ByPass and linked on to Highway One. I decided he must be going to rescue a big rig on the Sea to Sky Highway. At least I thought that was a logical conclusion until he took the Grandview Exit and travelled along Twelfth Avenue — my route to midtown Vancouver. This was no where near our mountain passes, logging roads or rugged cliffs — all memorable scenes from the show. This was to be something very different.
At this point I was in a good position to pass him.
As I looked up ahead, to my right, I could see yet another larger than usual tow truck parked along Twelfth Avenue. As I passed it, the side panel said ADVANCED TOWING. Based on the many Highway Thru Hell shows I have watched, my mind put two and two together — the assigned job was too big for Advanced so he radioed headquarters for assistance, and that brought out the RELIABLE big white rescue truck so the two could work together to get a job done, and done well.
Some might wonder what kind of massively complicated rescue job could be happening, on a bleak and drizzly day, along side a mostly residential neighbourhood, with the occasional business here and there?
Well — it just wasn’t feasible for me to stop to get the answer. But, hopefully, the answer will come on an upcoming episode. Then I can say: “I was there!!”