Original subtitles

[Narrator] This time on Heavy Rescue: 401...

[Narrator] ...chain reaction...

[Constable Tim Dunnah] Wow, this is wild.

[Narrator] ...on the busiest

stretch of the highway.

[Eric] Turn your wheel!

[Narrator] A quick pullout...

[Narrator] ...turns ugly.

[Kim] So, what's the plan, boys?

-Trailer's starting to slide. -Uh-oh!

[Narrator] ...and the McCaffrey's crew...

Whoa! Hold up!

All right, we're done.

[Narrator] ...hits the breaking point.

[Kim groaning]

[Narrator] A massive front

is hammering the entire southern edge of Ontario.

[Narrator] Across the province,

highways are covered in snow,

and drivers are struggling to stay on the roads.

[Derek Didone Sr.] Right now

we're getting some pretty nasty weather.

We're just outside the city limits.

We've got a tractor-trailer that's gone off the road.

[Narrator] At the western end of the 401,

Derek Didone Sr. and his crew

have been fighting to keep up.

[Derek Sr.] It's kind of a miserable night out.

Strong winds, got a lot of snow blowing across the highway.

[Eric Godard] Senior and I, the two most senior people,

and yet sometimes you just gotta be the ones

that go out and do the dirty work

and get the job done.

[Narrator] ...veteran rotator op Eric Godard

is bracing for the tough conditions

that are only getting tougher.

[Eric] Wind's blowing.

Snow's flying.

Quicker is going to be better,

so let's hope we can get there and get it done.

So one of the first things I think about

is the amount of room that we're gonna have,

and on a night like tonight,

they don't let you have any of the lanes closed down.

[Narrator] As they pull up on scene,

25 kilometres east of Windsor...

[Narrator] ...they can see just how far off the road

this driver has run.

[Eric] Well, as you can see, we have a tractor-trailer

what I call "run out into the rhubarb."

Real tricky thing about this

is we gotta do the whole thing from the shoulder.

[Eric] I know why they don't allow us to have a lane

on a night like this.

It's actually for our safety,

there's no question about it.

This thing has a load on it.

Luckily, there's not a lot of damage.

[Derek Sr.] What we're going to do

is we're going to put Big Orange on the front of it,

swing the tractor up,

right up onto the shoulder of the road.

[Narrator] Big Orange

is the company's new flagship rotator,

but for this job,

it will need some help

from the semi's driver.

[Derek Sr.] Okay, when he starts pulling,

I want you to turn this way.

[Eric shouts] Okay, ready?

Little more.

Yeah, she's coming.

Don't hit the brakes.

Be careful there, sir.

[Eric] There's definitely something going on.

We've got a whole lot more resistance here

than we should have.

He keeps hitting the [bleep] brakes!

I know! Don't hit the brakes!

[Derek Sr.] If the driver doesn't pay attention

and listen to our instructions,

it's a dangerous situation.

We won't pull you into something, don't worry.

[Narrator] With the difficulty in communication,

and the conditions getting worse...

Hey, put the brake on!

Brake on!

[air hisses]

[Narrator] ...Eric decides on a more direct approach.

I'm just going to literally drive out,

and pull him out behind me.

When we go, you aim at the back of my truck.

[Eric] All I'm going to do really

is just put Big Orange

in the lowest gear I can possibly grab,

lock up the rear ends in this thing,

and just... just walk him out.

[Narrator] ...but the heavy traffic

demands that they time it just right,

or risk being hit.

We're just going to wait for an opening,

and Eric's going to give one pull

right out into the, uh...

right onto the road.

[Eric] Once I start to move,

I just want him to aim the front of his truck

at the back of Big Orange,

and definitely do not cross the line.

Do not go into the lane of moving traffic.

[Derek Sr.] It's very crucial this driver listens to me

on how we want to do this.

[Eric] Turn your wheel!

As soon as we start to move,

I realize he is going to drive out

into the middle of the traffic.

[Bleep]!

You've got to get off the [bleep] highway!

[♪♪♪]

[Eric] I just stopped and...

Come on!

Pretty upset.

[Eric] In this weather,

we could have a pile-up of tractor-trailers

plowing into the back of him.

You got lucky.

Okay, just be careful.

[Eric] I don't know if it's nerves

or just a misunderstanding.

He must just be completely rattled.

Okay, drive safe.

You take care of yourself.

If it ever happens again,

he's going to pay a little more attention

to what he's told.

We got away with one there.

Like, that could have so easily killed somebody.

I specifically told him, "Stay behind me,

don't go on the road," but...

Yeah.

...obviously he didn't listen, so...

[Derek Sr.] We just can't afford

to have that mistake made on the side of 401.

You know, one takeaway about this,

Big Orange kicked the big snowstorm's ass,

that's all I know.

[Eric] We've got this job done,

but the weather is definitely not letting up

any time soon,

so there's no question,

we'll be out soon enough again.

[Narrator] As the storm fades away with the night...

[Narrator] ....evidence of its power

is scattered all along the 401.

[Narrator] ...and on the stretch

east of Toronto,

heavy crews face a busy day.

[OPP officer] As you can see

crews are working on this road.

It's a dangerous work environment out here.

Slow down, move over,

because at the end of day,

we all just want to go home safe.

[Kim Reid] Have you seen the owner

on this one yet, Geoff?

[Geoff York] No, I just called him,

he said he'd be five minutes.

[Kim] Okay.

[Narrator] Just outside Belleville...

[Jon] Is it loaded?

Full?

[Narrator] ...Kim Reid and her McCaffery's Towing crew

have four jobs to tackle

before sundown

and the evening rush.

[Kim] It's gonna be really tight for us

to get these units out of the ditch

in the timeline that the OPP want.

[Jon] You want to just hop in and pull him out?

Just drive ahead.

Okay.

Perfect.

[Kim] One down, three to go.

The police have given us permission

to work till 4:00.

The next one is going to be a bit of a challenge,

a bit more difficult.

[Narrator] As they arrive at the second recovery,

just a few kilometres up the road...

[Geoff] I don't think it's driveable.

[Narrator] ...operator Geoff York

can see that their day

is about to get much more difficult.

So we went from a nice, easy job,

now we're into a more complicated job.

[Jon] We'll give him 10 out of 10 on the landing.

[Narrator] The eastbound driver lost control

in blinding snow,

swerving across the median,

and smashing to a stop

just a few feet from westbound traffic.

Kim will quarterback the job,

but she relies on her experienced operators

to work the controls.

I have Kevin,

who I refer to as my right hand.

We're in the process of getting a lane closed right now.

[blaring horn]

[Geoff] We might almost need both lanes.

[Jon] Yeah, just to get it coming, right?

[Kim] Jonathan and Geoff,

they work extremely well as a team.

[Jon] So far we got a diesel spill.

He's ruptured his tank.

We'll have pretty good clean up afterwards

for environmental.

[Jon] This one jack-knifed pretty hard.

We're definitely going to have to hook this one up

and tow it back to the yard.

Trailer's sitting right on the tires, too.

[Narrator] ...and the semi is facing

against the flow of traffic.

[Jon] We can try and pull it this way.

I just don't know if we're going to do it

with one lane, right?

We're hoping to just loop it around

and take it with traffic.

If we can't get the lane closure we want,

then we're going to have to pull it backwards the other way

and get it out that way.

[Narrator] ...and as the highway crew

sets up for the closure,

Kim's crew learns

that it will only be a single lane.

[Jon] We're going to have to swing the nose

and pull it this way.

We have no choice.

It's gonna really make it tight for angles

and give us a lot less room to work with this one.

It'll be a little, uh,

little sketchier than we thought.

[Narrator] It'll be a tight space,

right up against the moving traffic.

These guys are doing a buck 20, a buck 30...

You don't stand a chance.

Vehicles need to slow down,

and that's not happening.

It's not a fun scenario, by any means.

[Narrator] But fun or not,

the job needs to get done,

and 4:00 p.m.

is just a few hours away.

[Kim] Basically all we need to do now

is get it the [bleep] outta the ditch!

These guys are doing a buck 20, a buck 30,

you don't stand a chance.

It's not a fun scenario, by any means.

[Narrator] On the edge of the 401,

outside of Belleville...

[Geoff] How do you want to do this?

[Jon] We're going to have to swing the nose

and pull it this way.

We have no choice now.

[Narrator] ...Kim Reid's crew

is rigging up for a tight pull near fast traffic.

[Kim] We could definitely benefit

to having a double lane closure here.

I did ask.

I was denied.

So, a lot of the problem that we were working with

was just trying to get angles...

angles on our trucks

so that we're able to winch these units out.

[Jon] We're going to have to change our plan up a little bit,

probably swing the front end around.

Support the trailer,

'cause the ditch has got quite an angle to it.

[Narrator] ...and the last thing the crew wants

is to roll the semi they're working to save.

It's an electronics load,

so it's usually a high-end, a high dollar load,

so we definitely want to try and keep this one

from shaking around too much

or rolling over.

All right, you wanna grab that and just drive up?

Yep.

[Geoff] So I'm going to drive ahead,

hopefully the cab'll come around.

[Jon] Go easy...

[Narrator] Geoff needs to straighten out the jackknife...

[Jon] ...and tight...

[Narrator] ...before they can spin the entire semi around.

[Jon] Go ahead, yeah.

Go, go, go.

Yeah, keep pulling.

Keep pulling, keep pulling, keep pulling...

and good.

[Kim] You are still caught up on this back corner.

[Narrator] As the tractor rotated,

the steep angle of the ditch

has wedged the trailer onto the tractor's wheels.

[Kim] Okay, let's get the other truck in,

hook to the back of it.

[Narrator] They need a second wrecker

to wrangle it free.

[passing truck blaring horn]

[Kim] Just heads up, Albert.

[Geoff] Watch yourself!

[metal scraping]

[Kim] No.

[Jon] It's pulling me.

[scraping]

See?

Try and steer it left.

-[metal scraping] -[Kim] Whoa!

[Jon] With only having the one lane,

we're not getting the angle we want on this one,

so it's actually starting to pull the smaller wrecker

into the ditch.

[Kim] This is the part that makes me nervous.

Hold on for a sec.

[Kim] It definitely seems to be fighting us

coming up this hill,

and looking like it really wants to roll.

[Geoff] You got the passenger side

about ten feet in the air.

[Kim] You guys make me nervous!

[Narrator] Geoff might have an idea.

Dragging it.

Yeah, I'm with you on that.

[Narrator] Instead of pulling with winches,

Geoff will drive forward,

dragging the truck behind him...

[Jon] I'm gonna let go of my chain.

Yeah, you got that?

Yeah, we'll watch the trailer as it comes.

Okay.

[Geoff] I'm hoping

we can pull it right straight out.

It'll go a lot quicker.

[Narrator] ...but the ride up the slope

at this angle

could pull the semi right over.

Eight inches in the air here.

[Jon] We got the tires up in the air a little bit,

so we definitely have some lean on it.

[Geoff] I'm gonna go out and keep going out a bit.

You just kinda follow me.

Having this unit roll would be a nightmare.

[Jon] Real slow.

All right, we're going.

Nice and slow, nice and slow, you got a lotta lean.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

[Geoff] Whoa! Whoa!

[Kim] Guys, you're gonna roll!

[Narrator] 550 kilometres west

south of Windsor...

[Narrator] ...last night's heavy snow

is already starting to melt away,

but there's no rest

for Eric and Big Orange.

[Eric] Here's a new day,

and we're gonna try to get out there

and get things done as quickly as possible.

[Narrator] Eric's heading to join Daren Didone

just west of Essex...

where a driver has seriously misjudged a turn.

[Eric] It's really dangerous.

The only thing holding this entire truck up

is literally that mount there.

If that mount wasn't there,

this truck would be upside-down in the bottom of that ditch.

[Narrator] 80,000 pounds

barely hanging on.

[Eric] He's gotten pretty lucky.

The entire truck is only still upright

because it's sitting on a plate

that's been welded to the back of the truck

for a panel hook that's not even there.

We're gonna have Daren actually rig a two-part line

over the top of this tank to hold it,

and I'm just going to winch it straight back

the way it came in.

Now, is that enough to hold it?

Yeah. Okay, good.

I'm going to back you up right towards the truck

so you can almost be where you are,

but on this angle.

Back up and then right in here, right?

Yup.

I've been working with Daren now for a while now,

and he catches on quick.

He's come a long way since I've been with these guys.

Let's get the boom up nice and high, Daren,

if you don't mind.

I'm learning a lot from Eric.

There's a lot of different kinds of recoveries,

and he's seen a lot in his years.

If I keep pulling, will you, uh...

Yeah.

[Eric] You know, you never stop learning,

and he's nowhere near done learning,

and neither am I.

Okay.

[Eric] The biggest part of it

is just getting the lean out of 'er.

Just watch that truck for now for me, buddy.

[Narrator] To counteract the lean,

they'll run a strap over top

and chain it to a wheel.

That requires someone to rig

down underneath the leaning truck.

[Eric] If this thing falls over,

which is a real possibility,

anybody here is gonna be dead.

This is the one spot

that's not going to make me feel

all warm and fuzzy inside.

If that plate breaks through the ground,

then this truck is going to be upside-down.

Okay, Daren, go to the other side

and give that pull for me, let me see what we got.

I'm literally standing in ice water.

You got any more?

Okay!

Coming out, buddy.

Okay, Daren, nice and easy, now!

Take a little bit for me.

[Eric] The most important part of this job

is going to be on Daren.

Daren!

Don't let it lean any worse!

[Daren] My truck's holding most of the load right now,

as Eric's pulling back.

[Narrator] ...and as Eric eases the truck back,

Daren needs to work in sync,

adjusting his tension.

[Eric] Daren!

That's enough.

I don't want to take a chance of losing it

before we have the first wheel dry.

Slightly out!

[Narrator] Eric's pulled the truck away from the ditch...

[Eric] Hey! Have him put his brakes on!

[Daren] Set your brake.

[Narrator] ...now it's up to the driver

to reverse the rest of the way...

Watch me, okay?

You're gonna back up.

Daren, you good?

[Daren] Yep.

[reverse alerts beeping]

Don't hit that brake!

If the driver actually hits the brake at this point,

that front end is gonna go completely into the ditch.

Once it starts to slide,

there's gonna be no stopping it.

You can't touch that brake.

The last thing I want

is for it to end up back in the ditch.

[reverse alerts beeping]

[Eric] Easy... easy.

There's no coming back from a mistake at this point.

[reverse alerts beeping]

[Eric] That's enough, buddy.

[Eric] Unfortunately,

when he was at that critical point,

the driver touched the brakes,

and soon as he did,

on the ice and snow,

it slid towards the ditch.

She's not tracking!

[Eric] We're going to skip it over.

We're not going to take that chance.

[Daren] Okay.

[Eric] So, let's just be safe.

We're just going to literally take the front end

and move it sideways.

Let it roll back!

[reverse alerts beeping]

[Eric] You're good.

He's free.

Life is good.

Get him outta here.

It's been quite the storm.

We've been going for probably 48 hours,

and this is the last one,

I think, I've got in front of me, for now.

He can definitely drive it away,

there's zero damage.

Want to make sure the customer's happy.

So it's kind of nice to be done,

head back to the shop,

maybe get a coffee,

and wait for the next one.

[truck engine rumbling]

[Narrator] Back on the 401 near Belleville...

I was thinking

if you could grab a hold of this trailer and slide it.

[Narrator] ...Kim's crew is stalled

on their second recovery.

With two more still to go,

the 4:00 p.m. deadline

is looming.

[Geoff] We could put both lines on.

Low line up here, and a low line back here.

Yeah.

[Narrator] ...but they've worked out a new plan

they hope will pull the truck out of the ditch

without toppling it.

We're just gonna pull down on 'er

and get 'er under control.

We're going to reposition the smaller wrecker.

We're going to pull this trailer up the hill

sideways instead of pulling forward,

and that way, we can control the trailer as it comes up.

[Narrator] With two recoveries waiting,

and less than four hours to get them all done,

the pressure is on.

[Jon] When I pull high, it's digging those tires in.

[Narrator] But Jon is used to high-pressure jobs.

[Jon] I started my heavy career in the military.

Most of it was off-road recoveries,

anything up to full-sized tanks.

She's going to get tippy when it gets sideways.

[Narrator] Today,

it will take military precision

to keep the semi upright

as it moves onto the road.

Think we're good to go now, guys?

[Geoff] Give 'er a try.

[Kim] You two just watch yourselves, okay?

[Jon] Okay, nice and slow.

Nice and slow.

[Jon] Pulling the trailer sideways like this

is not always ideal.

The more we go forward, the more it wants to lean over.

[Jon] Tell him to hold the brakes.

[Geoff] Hold your brakes.

[Jon] We got eyes all around.

We're definitely watching the wheels on this one.

[Geoff] Watch that cable snapback, eh?

The front is up.

The back is still hanging over.

[Geoff] Okay, pull.

Pull, pull, pull, pull.

You're good.

Perfect.

[Jon] All the trailer wheels are on the ground now,

so that's a good thing.

That was a little nerve-racking.

[Narrator] ...and this victory comes with a heavy price.

[Kim] This job taking as long as it is did

is really throwing off our schedule.

[Jon] Definitely gonna be in a squeeze

to be done by 4:00 today.

Everybody is tired, everybody is beat up,

but we got more ahead of us.

Two down, two to go.

[traffic news radio] Happy to report

the roads are bare and dry right across the GTA.

Definitely a great drive,

and no problem areas to pass your way.

[Narrator] It's early afternoon in Toronto.

[Tim Dunnah] We're on Highway 401.

Traffic is moving nicely right now, which is nice,

and, uh, we'll see how the day goes.

[Narrator] Constable Tim Dunnah is on the lookout

for anything that could change the day for the worse.

401 westbound at Dixon.

We got some blowing snow

coming across the highway here,

and the lanes are much tighter through here.

I'm looking for something

that, you know, catches my attention.

[Narrator] It doesn't take long.

[Tim] Now, that's just dangerous.

I see a vehicle,

it's made an aggressive lane change

crossing multiple lanes.

Very, very dangerous manoeuvre.

Once I get a straight-away,

I'll have a discussion with that person.

[short blast of police siren]

[turns on siren]

All right, so I'm going to jump out the car here

and talk to this lady.

Hi there.

I was with you 401 westbound,

and you were almost in the left lane,

then you cut across all lanes.

Very dangerous manoeuvres, ma'am.

Yeah?

[Narrator] She suddenly realized

she'd missed a direction from her GPS.

[Tim] You should listen to your common sense

more than GPS.

We've had common sense before GPS was invented.

Okay, ma'am,

I'm giving you a warning today

for your manoeuvre.

Just remember, you're driving,

you gotta know what's happening.

Next time, you know, don't do what you did.

Thank you, ma'am.

[Tim] I decided to give her a warning

instead of issuing her a ticket.

She owned it.

She said, "Yeah, I was driving, and my exit came up,"

and she cut across.

Warnings are a great deterrent.

"They gave me a warning today,

they gave me a chance."

We're not always out to hammer.

You can educate folks,

and when you come back with a warning,

they'll tell their friends and family, "Hey, I got stopped,

and an officer gave me a chance."

That driver will remember next time,

"Hey, you know what, I made a mistake.

People are watching."

India 104, I'm still on the 401 westbound.

[Narrator] 200 kilometres east,

Kim and her crew are wrapping up

the third job on their list.

[Jon] We'll get this one out of here pretty quick,

and move on to the next one

that we can see just down the road there.

That's going to be the big one.

There's not a real big lean on this one,

and this one's empty.

So hopefully we can get him heading the right way

and back on the highway.

Little left.

Yeah.

I think we got 'er now.

[air brakes hissing]

Perfect.

You're absolutely free.

We're onto the next one.

[Kevin] Good job, guys.

[Jon] Hopefully we'll get out of here,

and make our goal today for 4:00.

The OPP want us off the highway here shortly,

so we are definitely going to try

and speed this one up.

[Narrator] ...but with the sun already sinking in the sky...

[Jon] This is number four,

the one we weren't really looking forward to.

[Narrator] ...the last one

is going to be tough.

[Jon] My concerns are on this one

that he jumped this concrete culvert here.

We have maybe a 10-foot, 15-foot drop there.

[Jon] Driver is lucky on this one.

With the air time he got,

he's definitely lucky to be going home.

So if anything goes wrong,

this trailer and truck

are gonna go right into that culvert

and probably roll over.

[Kim] It's going to be the most complicated.

It's the hardest recovery that we have on deck.

[Jon] Yeah, we got quite significant damage done

to the fifth wheel plate.

Tore up a bunch of tires on this side.

[Narrator] The recovery will be much more work

than they have time to complete.

[Kim] Hi!

It's going to take about four hours.

[Narrator] ...and the police have just called

with more bad news...

Okay, thanks, bye.

Okay, guys,

the OPP is shutting us down for a little bit.

Um, the backlog's past 566,

and they've had four or five near misses.

There is a rather lengthy backlog of traffic

that's stemming behind us

about six kilometres, if not longer.

So our goal today was to get four done by 4:00.

We didn't quite make that goal.

[Kim] The good news is,

I'm able to get a closure

and remove this unit later on this evening.

[Narrator] ...but even though

their deadline's been extended,

they'll have to work in full darkness.

[Jon] Everything's harder at night, harder to see.

People coming down the highway can't see ya as well.

Definitely not as safe.

We'll come back and fight this one.

[Narrator] Just after 6:00 p.m.,

on the 401 east of Belleville...

[Kim] Dude had a wild ride.

It looks like he jumped the culvert that's there.

[Narrator] ...Kim Reid and her crew

are returning

to finish their fourth, and toughest, job

of this very busy day.

[Kim] You doing okay there, old guy? Tired?

It's been a long day of delays,

so we were able to get a little bit of a break,

but everybody is still exhausted.

We have no choice

but to continue to push through our exhaustion

to get this unit out

before the weather hits again.

[Geoff] We got the lane and shoulder.

If I have to,

I'll back up beside the truck,

slide the whole truck out.

[Narrator] While they have a lane closure

to give them some room,

the space is still tight.

[Jon] We'd like to get square onto the truck

to get a good pull on it,

so our angles are really cut short here.

[Kim] They're not there.

[Geoff] What's the problem?

We don't have any keys.

He told me they were in the ignition.

[Narrator] The tractor has an automatic transmission,

and without the keys,

the wheels are locked.

[Jon] We have no power,

it's hard to steer the vehicle,

so we're just going to have to bully this one

up out of the ditch.

You wanna dry try it?

Yeah, give it a pull.

[Jon] If the trailer starts to slide back into the ditch,

it's sitting on a culvert

with a good 10-, 15-foot drop-off,

so if we get down in there,

we're in a big world of trouble.

[Geoff] It's moving, I can see it.

[Jon] Gotta get real aggressive

so it'll come straight up hopefully, right?

[Kevin] I'm behind the wheel of the vehicle,

and I'm just trying to drive it with no power under it.

It's pretty hard to turn the wheel.

I'm not a big lad,

so turning a big tractor-trailer wheel

while it's packed in snow,

can be a little challenging.

[Jon] Trailer's starting to slide.

As we're starting to pull, the trailer is shifting.

[Jon] We're twisting it.

We're gonna end up in the ditch,

so she'll be rolled.

[Kim] Yeah.

[Kim] Worst-case scenario right now

is that this unit could roll,

and that would be... horrendous.

There's a big chance

we're gonna slide into the culvert.

[Geoff] All right, we're done.

[Narrator] Back in Toronto,

Tim Dunnah is still on patrol,

ready for whatever the highway throws his way.

All the different challenges that you get

throughout your shift,

you never know what you're gonna encounter.

[Tim] Every day is different, nothing surprises me.

I don't know what I'm gonna get

call to call.

[Narrator] Just two kilometres up the road at Keele...

[screeching tires]

...Tim's next call is about to hit the airwaves.

[Narrator] One vehicle clipped another,

setting off a chain reaction.

-All right. -[activates siren]

[Tim] As I pull up on scene,

I'm seeing multiple cars

tangled within the left lane.

It looks chaotic.

This is wild.

It's going to take some time to clear out this crash site.

[Narrator] On the busiest stretch

of the continent's busiest highway,

Tim Dunnah is facing a complex scene...

[Tim] We have an eight vehicle pile-up.

We have minor injuries at this time.

Lots of damage,

and it keeps continuing down the roadway.

[Narrator] ...all because one driver

was following too closely,

and couldn't stop when traffic slowed down.

My priority is to make sure everyone is safe

that is out of the vehicle.

That alone

helps us speed up our recovery and clean-up.

-Okay. -Yeah, yeah.

[Narrator] Abrams one-tonne vet Mark Haslett

is helping move stranded families

safely off the highway.

[Mark Haslett] It's more people

than I'm used to having on scene.

We want to keep everybody organized.

That's very important.

Make yourself at home, please.

My name is Mark.

Yeah, no problem.

[Mark] Family is really important to me,

and when I see a family out on the highway in distress,

it brings it home to me as well,

and I want to make sure

that these folks are taken care of.

Okay, let's get the wheel pan in, let's go!

[Narrator] With drivers and passengers sorted,

it's time to tackle their vehicles.

[Mark] Let's go!

It's the one-tonnes that are doing the real work tonight.

[groaning]

Just hang in there, folks.

I bet you didn't plan this for your Friday night, did ya?

[Tim] All lanes reopened.

Okay, bye.

[Narrator] As his night on the highway winds down,

Tim has time to reflect

on how he got here in the first place.

[Tim] I just got off the phone with my dad.

He wanted to know what's happening,

what I've done for the day.

My dad was a police officer for 35 years

with Toronto Police.

I would hear the stories from him and his friends,

and I thought,

"This is where I want to be.

This is what I want to do."

He understands all the different challenges

that you get throughout your shift.

We try to compare notes

to see who's done more and who's done what.

One-up each other,

but he's got time on his side, so...

but I'm catching him,

and enjoying it.

It's a good rivalry.

[Kim] There's a big chance

we're gonna slide into the culvert.

[Narrator] 200 kilometres down the road...

[Jon] You know what,

let's just pull your second line.

[Narrator] ...still unable to keep the semi from sliding,

the McCaffrey crew has stopped to re-rig.

[Jon] Put a low line on up here.

It's just going to keep turning.

Okay, now we'll go for a walk.

[Kevin] The boys and I have come with a game plan

to get this out of the ditch as safely as possible.

[Narrator] While they continue to pull the front,

they'll add an extra line to the rear of the trailer,

helping guide it away from the culvert.

Yeah, we'll go right here.

[Jon] We're going to grab onto the trailer

and get everything coming towards us.

That enough?

-Yeah. -Oh, yeah.

All right.

I'll watch your back end

and just keep that taut, right?

[Kevin] We've got a secure line to the back of the trailer

to prevent it from rolling over.

The last thing we need to do

is roll it over into the culvert.

[Jon] Kevin's gonna jump in there

and steer this thing.

[Geoff] I don't know if he's gonna be able to steer

once I start lifting.

[Jon] It's Kevin,

he's stronger than the average man.

[Jon] She's coming right at ya.

Just pull 'er.

Give that trailer a tug up towards you.

You're getting a little close to the culvert.

Take another two, three feet if you can.

[Geoff] Yeah, I'm out of cable here now.

[Narrator] With no more room to pull forward,

they need to change the plan

again.

Why don't we back up,

we'll take that line off the front of that truck,

put it on the corner of the trailer,

and slide the whole thing up?

[Jon] Yeah, and pull the jackknife out of it?

[Geoff] Yeah.

[Narrator] They'll pull from the landing gear,

attempting to straighten the semi,

directing it fully away from the culvert.

[Kim] They're going to run a snatch block.

They're going to double-line it right at the trailer leg,

and then we're just going to pull the trailer this way.

[Jon] Hopefully this rigging works out for us.

We have more snow coming in here,

so we really gotta get this one outta here tonight.

The OPP don't want to wait until tomorrow.

I'm going to back up over this way,

and kinda swing my ass end over.

How's that?

Good there?

Yeah.

I'm going to start pulling it out.

All right.

[Geoff] Is it moving?

[Kim] No.

[Jon] Whoa!

Hold up.

[Geoff groans]

Pulled the landing gear right out of 'er.

[Kim groans]

[Geoff] 100% done.

[Jon] Whoa! Hold up.

[Geoff groans]

[Jon] Pulled the landing gear right out of 'er.

[Narrator] The end of the day is almost in sight

for Kim Reid and crew,

but a hard pull

has proven too hard for the landing gear.

[Narrator] A painful setback.

[Kim] I can tell the guys

are starting to really get tired.

Unfortunately, we don't have time for a rest.

We gotta keep moving.

[Kevin] Unfortunately,

we are gonna do some damage to the landing gear,

so we need to find a more firmer spot

to be able to pull the trailer.

[Narrator] As they look for a stronger rigging point

on the frame,

the veteran has an additional idea.

[Kevin] I've come with a game plan

to get this out of the ditch.

The second truck we'll use

to the brace the back of the trailer

to pull it the remainder of the way up to the road.

Pull it backwards toward the 401,

it'll straighten out somewhat.

[Narrator] The second wrecker pulling the back end

could help straighten the semi,

moving it away from the slope...

[Kevin] Hoping that the fifth-wheel plate's

gonna hold together,

and we can pull this beast outta here.

[Geoff] Get your truck turned around,

you hook on the back.

[Jon] All right, we'll go rig up.

[Narrator] ...but they can't position the second wrecker

without a full closure of the westbound lanes.

[Kim] Can you... stop?

Thank you!

There we go!

We'll try it.

See if she'll move.

All right, yeah, go.

She's movin'.

Hey, slow down for a minute,

let me get caught up here.

[Kim] There we go.

[Geoff] Hey, Jon, let off.

I'm going to start pulling this way.

Aw, yeah, beauty.

[Geoff] Hey, I got it, Jon.

[Jon] You're perfect there.

[Kim] Whoo-hoo!

[Kevin] Good job.

Well done, guys.

[Narrator] The most stubborn wreck

of a marathon day

is back on the road.

We're done.

[Kevin] It worked perfectly.

I'm really happy with that when that happens.

[Kim] All right!

[Jon] Perfect. Keep going.

[Jon] We had the whole crew out today.

Everything worked out good,

and we're four for four today, and we're going home.

Oh, I'm ready to be done.

It's been a long day.

[Kim] I'm really impressed with my crew.

They worked wonderfully well together.

Worked hard, dug deep.

We were able to get these four units

out of the ditch today,

and now they can all go home for a well-deserved rest.

All right, boys, good work today.

[Jon sighs wearily] Let's go home.

I had enough playing tow truck for the day.

[Narrator] Next time on Heavy Rescue: 401...

Boom out!

[Narrator] ...a new rotator...

Slow down, Dad!

It's all tangled up.

Pull!

[Narrator] ...gets snarled.

Keep 'em both tight, young blood.

[Narrator] A rookie operator...

[James] It's fighting the brakes right now.

[Narrator] ...pulls his weight...

[Duncan] Like every [bleep] odd is against you out here!

[Narrator] ...and Gary and Collin...

[Collin] That snowbank is all that's holding this thing up

at the moment.

[Narrator] ...hang in the balance.

[Gary] You don't even wanna breathe on this thing wrong,

and it's going over.

[♪♪♪]