Three drivers had a bad start to their Wednesday morning on February 26, but according to emergency services, it could have been a far worse one. Despite extensive damage to at least one vehicle, a three-car collision on Highway 47 just north of Estevan resulted in no major injuries, with all parties involved treated on-scene by EMS and released.

"The lottery was last night but I think they should maybe go buy a lottery ticket today as well," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser, who attended the call. "Just a fraction of a second of difference, or maybe somebody's reaction time would've taken them into a different position in this particular accident, it could have very well been a fatal collision."

The crash happened just before 9 AM about three kilometers north of the city. According to Feser, one of the cars involved in the crash was carrying dangerous goods, so the people involved in the crash were all the luckier not to be seriously hurt.

"Once we determined that one vehicle that was carrying some dangerous goods on the back of it," Feser said, "in the form of tanks and chemicals there, it was quickly confirmed there were no leaks as a result of the collision from that particular vehicle. That instance was quickly downgraded so we could focus our attention on the debris field."

The debris field was fairly extensive. Two cars ended up on opposite shoulders of the road, while the third ended up in the ditch on the west side of the highway, not far from the turnoff to the Estevan Airport. Feser said the cause of the crash is not yet known, but the RCMP is investigating. The highway was shut down for about an hour.

"We had it shut down for approximately an hour's time here," Feser said. "We wanted to clean up at least one lane of traffic to get it flowing, so we did have one-lane traffic established in both directions. We do want to thank the motoring public for being very respectful of our work zone."

Feser said one vehicle needed to be towed as it had suffered substantial damage to the driver's side, and a completely removed steering axle and wheel assembly on the passenger side. The other two cars appeared to still be driveable. None of the drivers involved needed to be transported to the hospital.