Train Crash Hero

From the safety classroom to a real-life scenario; local man heroically jumps into action during last
week’s train accident

On Friday morning last week, Michelle McIntee, owner of A-TEAM Training and Consulting, was nearly
an hour into her Standard First Aid & CPR Recertification course. Her students for the day were settled
in their seats, learning about various safety-related topics. Her office is just off Highway 43, on Caxton
Street, beside the Ritz Café & Motor Inn. Just after 8:30 am, a big sound shook the ground and caught
her attention.
“I had my back to the windows facing the highway while I was teaching, and suddenly, I heard a really
big bang,” she recounted. Before she could get her bearings and figure out what was happening, Cody
Brown, one of the students in the class, jumped up and yelled, reacting to something happening outside.
Their classroom view was of Highway 43, including the train crossing near the exit of Highway 32. The
scene unfolding in front of them was horrifying. A pair of train engines had collided with a transport
carrying fuel, creating a massive fireball rising high up into the early morning sky.
After yelling and notifying his classmates about the commotion outside, Brown grabbed his cell phone
and immediately dialled 911. “That’s how quickly he reacted. Not only did he call for help, but as he was
doing that, he was running out the door to his truck.” From their vantage point in the A-TEAM
classroom, they saw that the truck driver needed help. “He was walking around, and you could tell he
was in shock because he was going across the road, then back again, and fell to his knees in the middle
of the road. Cody got to him within less than five minutes of it happening.”
For Brown, it was evident that he had to act quickly. “The driver was out of the truck, but he was only
ten feet away from it, and I could see that he was in shock, and no one was helping him. I had to get him
away from it.” After going to the front of the line, Brown jumped out of his truck and ran to the driver.
As he did so, another good Samaritan parked behind him and joined him. Both men worked together to
get the driver into Brown’s truck. “I brought him down the road until the police showed up.”
Being a busy highway, it took only a short time for traffic to begin adding up on both sides of the train
tracks. The transport was carrying two diesel-filled tanks (early reports said one tank was gas and the
other diesel, though unconfirmed). Explosions could be heard as tanks and tires caught fire, leaving
terrified drivers to back up or do a U-turn to get out of the vicinity.
“You don’t see that every day,” said Brown. He credited his training over the years for helping him
recognize the driver was in trouble and knowing what to do to help. “I’m a rig worker. Power tongs work
with drilling rigs, all the safety training and drills we do, and the high-octane situations that we
sometimes get into directly contributed to me running into the fire.”
Brown has lived in Whitecourt for 16 years and has worked within the oil and gas industry since he was
fresh out of high school. He has worked for Clarkes Power Tong Service for the last five years, and this
was the first time he had taken a course with A-TEAM. Brown recommends safety training because you
never know when it might be useful. “Sometimes you have to step up and help when someone’s in
danger. Safety training can help. Michelle (A-TEAM) did an excellent job. She was to the point with good

information, kept it interesting, and had all the proper tools. It was a good safety course. One of the
better ones I’ve been to, actually.”
McIntee said her courses are meant to be interactive and fun, keeping them from getting dry. That
morning’s blended course gave students an online portion to do at their pace and a full day of hands-on
training to solidify it all together. “I think they take away so much more from it this way. The biggest
thing with safety is that they remember the training afterwards because if they don’t, and they zone out,
I feel I haven’t done my job.”
Keeping the rest of her class inside to watch from the safety of the window, McIntee said she paid close
attention to Brown once he returned. “As First Aiders, we can go into shock too. It’s one of the most
common things to happen. When you’re dealing with something, your adrenaline spikes like crazy, and
then when you’re all done, it drops, and you might not feel very good. I watched him to see if he got
pale, but he was good. He was calm as a cucumber.”
McIntee said she is incredibly proud of what he did. “That’s just who he is. If you met him, you would
see that. He used the first aid skills that he’s learned since he began taking first aid courses, and he put
them to the test today and did an awesome job. I’m very proud of him. A huge pat on the back!”
For Brown, he said it’s just like any other day. “I don’t feel like a hero or nothing. I’m just glad I could
help, as little as it was, and that everyone is ok. I’m glad to see the quick response time from the first
responders. Great job.”