Muskoka Paramedic Services (MPS) hit a moose on the way to Algonquin Park to respond to a call of another vehicle striking a moose.
Bill Dickson, media relations coordinator for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) East Region, says the first crash happened around 1 p.m. on May 19 when the vehicle hit the moose on Hwy. 60 near Tea Lake in the park, left the road, and struck a tree. He explains one person, a 40-year-old woman, was transferred to a Toronto-area trauma hospital with life-threatening injuries while a 45-year-old man was taken to the to the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital and is in stable condition. Both are from Quebec.
MPS sent two ambulances to the scene and Dickson says one of them struck a moose, too. While it was “extensively damaged,” no one was injured.
Hwy. 60 was closed near the crash while police investigated.
Dickson says the officers who responded to the crash had just left the scene of another moose collision, however, no one was injured in that incident.
“The OPP warns motorists that an increasing number of moose have been coming out of the forest and onto roads, particularly in the area of Algonquin Park, in an effort to escape from swarms of insects,” says Dickson. “Please, observe posted speed limits in order to ensure you have adequate reaction and keep your eyes on the road and ditches ahead.”