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“I wouldn’t say that mistakes were made. I think we were following our proper protocols.”

The last six weeks have been difficult for city crews as the cold snap made its treatments less effective, Thompson said, noting crews have been “more or less” limited to applying sand for traction.

Photo by (Morgan Modjeski/The Saskatoon StarPhoenix) / Saskatoon

“That presents a lot of challenges for us, when you get a new snowfall on top of icy streets — that can create challenging driving conditions.”

He said the city’s techniques will be more effective in coming weeks, as Environment Canada expects temperatures to warm up.

Police and firefighters responded to the scene, alongside numerous tow trucks. Fire department staff said the size of the collision was unusual.

“We go to accidents all the time on Circle Drive and numerous areas of the city,” Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Roger said. “The fact that this is a higher-speed thoroughfare, the potential for more vehicles to be involved is only to be expected.”

He said this is the first time he’s seen this type of collision, but noted the crash did not present any challenges for the fire department’s resources.

Geoff Roller, CEO of Astro Towing, said the number of vehicles involved in the collision was higher than normal.

“It’s usually not that many. Usually it’s a three- or four-car pileup.”

He said Astro Towing had 10 to 12 trucks at the scene, and his crews are well equipped to handle this type of incident. Roads were bad at the time, and the company got calls from people sliding into the ditch trying to avoid it, he added.

“Astro Towing has been in Saskatoon since 1975. We have lots of experienced drivers — 30-year-employees, 25-year employees, 20-year employees … a lot of our guys are good at what they do, so they’re used to responding to this kind of stuff.”

mmodjeski@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/_MorganModjeski