Scene of Broncos crash haunted Sask. truckers for decades

The intersection where a semi-trailer and the Humboldt Broncos' team bus collided on Friday is a dangerous one, according to truckers who use it regularly.

Werner Moellenbeckdrove through it on Friday, two hours prior to the hockey team's fatal crash.

He said the crash brought back memories of watching helplessly as a family of six perished in the same place 21 years ago.

"There's no words to describe the aftermath of a cleanup like that," said Moellenbeck, who has spent 49 years driving trucks, and who lives near St. Gregor, Sask.

"It never leaves you;it has a huge impact on a person forever," he said.

6 family members died crossing the same intersection in 1997

In June 1997, Moellenbeckand Jim Kuerverswere driving semi-trailers from Nipawin, Sask., south along Highway 35.

He didn't even realize the stop signs were there.- Jim Kuervers, retired truck driver

Kuerversremembered seeing a man driving a pickup truck on Highway 335, approaching the intersection at full speed.

"He didn't even realize the stop signs were there," said Kuervers.

Thepickup truck collided with the grain truck Kuerverswas driving, hit the ditch, then burst into flames.

Thatcrash killed Rod Fiddler, 33; his wife, Terri Lynne Fiddler, 30;and their children Jocelyn, 4;Jasmine, 3; and Kassandre, one month.

The girls' aunt, 26-year-old Wendy Lou Fiddler, also died in the crash.

'Something that you never, ever forget'

"You stand there very helplessly. There's nothing you can do," said Moellenbeck, who said even the fire extinguisher in his truck would have been useless. "You can't even get close to it."

Kuerverswas too shaken to drive home that night.

Moellenbeckdrove him home, a drive he remembered asbeing "very, very quiet."

"You don't know what to say," said Moellenbeck. "It's something that you never, ever forget."

Intersection saw some improvements

Highway officials later added a flashing red light at the intersection, and tore down a service station on the corner where the Broncos' bus came to rest Friday.

Moellenbecksaid installing flashing LED lights around the octagon of the stop sign would make it far more visible, even in inclement weather.

"They're very, very distinct from a long ways away," he said.

"The old style of stop sign with just a red flashing light sometimes is very hard to see from a distance, especially if it's foggy out or a cloudy day, you know, it's just hard to distinguish," Moellenbecksaid.

Guilt, anguish over Fiddler family deaths haunted Kuerversfor years

Police ruled Kuerverswas not at fault. Still, the now-retired trucker told CBC it took him years to get over the feelings of guilt and anguish.

He said rumble strips or speed bumps would also alert drivers to the intersection, especially those unfamiliar with the area.

Kuervers and his wife Lorna were at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Humboldt preparing for a pancake breakfast when their son texted them about the hockey team's crash.

"You think of everything right away. It went through my mind like it did 21 years ago," said Kuervers. who feltsympathy for the driver of the semi-trailer.

"You think to yourself:maybe there was something I could have done to prevent this," he said.

"But once it happens, it's too late."