A driver is dead following a motor vehicle collision and fire on a washed-out Highway 527.
Ontario Provincial Police say the driver, whose name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, did not notice a section of the highway had washed away. The vehicle caught fire and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene, approximately one kilometre south of the Kab River Bridge south of Gull Bay First Nation.
Police say a portion of the highway 20 kilomtres south of the First Nation, and at Highway 811, remains closed.
A second driver, who arrived at the scene just before the deceased, was taken to Armstrong Nursing Station with non-life threatening injuries.
The investigation continues.
The highway is expected to be closed for at least the next two days, which means Superior North EMS won't be able to bring patients from places North of the washout like Armstrong to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre if needed. Weather permitting, air ambulance will be used if required.
"We're working with Ornge to make sure that those trips happen," EMS chief Norm Gale said.
Armstrong does have paramedics and a nursing station. They typically see around 500 calls a day Gale said.
