For highway drivers throughout the rugged expanses of B.C.’s sprawling Interior, the most challenging time of the year has returned.
A man with plenty of first-hand experience with those challenges has some words of wisdom for motorists venturing out this winter.
Fire Chief Steven DeRousie of Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services (RFRS) says planning ahead, coming prepared with emergency supplies and plenty of fuel, and driving relative to the weather are all key.
RFRS plays a major part in emergency response to motor vehicle incidents east and west of town along the Highway 1 national transportation corridor. Revelstoke fire crews responded to 92 motor vehicle incidents on the Trans Canada Highway in 2025, including 29 in the final quarter.
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Just between Dec. 26, 2025, and Tuesday, Jan. 6, RFRS responded seven times along the highway, according to its Facebook updates. This included three semi-trailer rollovers, trapped drivers and other vehicle incidents, everywhere from Three Valley Gap and Pine Road, to Canyon Hot Springs, Jumping Creek and Loop Brook.
“There are more highway accidents than we respond to,” DeRousie noted. “The numbers are higher than what’s reflected by us.”
Yet overall, “our call numbers have gone down in the last five years,” he said. “I attribute fewer rescue calls to newer cars being more resilient.”
As DeRousie put it, “cars are amazing these days,” but “sometimes you lose touch with how close to the edge you are” in dangerous winter environments.
However, it falls on the RCMP and BC Ambulance Service to administer first aid to drivers on scene, whereas “the calls we (RFRS) respond to are either confirmed or potential entrapment,” DeRousie explained.
Particularly for semi-trailers, traversing the Columbia Mountains and Rogers Pass is no easy feat, and DeRousie said a lot of incidents occur as a result of speed — not necessarily speeding, but driving at speeds that aren’t compatible with the conditions. He advises motorists to not merely obey posted speed limits, but also adjust driving behaviour based on the weather.
Offering advice on winter road safety, DeRousie said: “I think planning ahead is the first thing people should do.”
This includes allocating emergency supplies such as extra food, water, clothes and heat sources if drivers need to duke it out for several hours in the cold, in the case of construction, avalanche closures and vehicle incidents or breakdowns.
“If you’re stuck for eight hours, I’d hope that you were prepared for it,” DeRousie added.
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Winter tires are also essential, he said, because provincial law requires them on Highway 1 from October through April. Mud and snow tires don’t make the cut, he noted, and motorists driving rental cars should check that the company providing the vehicle has installed winter wheels.
As well, with no gas stations between Revelstoke and Golden, DeRousie said drivers should always cross Rogers Pass on a generous tank of fuel in case they get stuck and have to keep the car warm. According to Quebec’s government, an idling 3.5-litre engine burns more than 2 litres of gas per hour. Drivers stuck for eight hours and needing to keep the heat running could potentially run out of gas, DeRousie warned, depending on how much they left Revelstoke or Golden with.
He added that, “if you’re going to drive the pass, let someone know where you’re going.” In the case that something could go wrong, “be aware of where you are on the highway,” he said, so that it’s easy to summon emergency aid.
In the event of a collision, DeRousie explained that many vehicles manufactured in the last decade come equipped with automatic crash detection, which swiftly notifies emergency services if there’s a hard impact. Motorists will often get asked on their dashboard if they’d like to enable automatic 911 calling.
Some stretches of Highway 1 between Sicamous and Golden prove more treacherous than others and require extra caution.
DeRousie knows exactly where.
“Surprisingly, we get a lot of calls to the Crazy Creek area,” he said, adding that sections west of town near the Enchanted Forest, Three Valley Gap, Victor Lake and Pine Road intersection see higher incident rates.
To the east, DeRousie flagged Greely Bridge, Jumping Creek, Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk and Canyon Hot Springs as other passages for exercising heightened caution on the road.
But “the absolute worst is the 140-degree turn at Loop Brook,” he emphasized, describing that bend just west of Rogers Pass as super sharp. “A lot of, lot of accidents there. It’s deceiving — it really doesn’t look that bad.”
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Above all, with road incidents through the Columbia Mountains, “a lot of it is just driving too fast for the conditions,” DeRousie cautioned. So this winter, “if the weather does change, slow down.”
Motorists can plan ahead by visiting drivebc.ca, to check for construction delays, avalanche closures and also road conditions as shown by Highway 1 cameras.