Warman resident Dore Germo thought he was driving towards a large grass fire – but when he got closer, he realized what had actually happened.
"You could see, in the smoke, the vehicles and how bad of a scene it actually was, and the severity of it."
Three Saskatoon residents died in the crash, which involved 10 vehicles, at the intersection of Highway 9 and Range Road 73 in Alberta. Another 12 were sent to hospital.
"There were sirens behind us, and flashing lights," Germo told CTV News. "Minutes later the policeman was running towards us, and kind of waving his arms, so we roll down the window and he just yelled 'get out of here, get out of here.'"
Of the 10 vehicles, three were semi-trucks, one of which was carrying fuel which exploded upon impact. Another semi was carrying butane.
The truck carrying the butane became engulfed in flames, and began to vent gas which caused officials to temporarilly evacuate a nearyby hamlet of Chinook.
The venting process was one of the reasons the highway was closed for as long as it was, because police say they needed to ensure the tanker was empty before safely moving it.
Residents in the area told CTV News that the explosion from the crash was so severe that it shook their houses.
Germo said he has driven that route many times and safety has been a concern in the past.
"That time of year there’s definitely lots of people travelling and lots of road constrcution, so its easy to get frustrated and anxious and just say ‘I want to get where Im going."
"That might be the split second mistake somebody maybe makes. When we were heading home it just kind of sunk in, the whole distracted drving thing and how quickly that can cause a severe incident."
Collision reconstruction specialists spent Tuesday night and much of Wednesday at the scene.
RCMP say the investigation into the cause of the crash could be a lengthy process.
With files from CTV News Calgary
