Tag Archives: Heavy Rescue: 401

Comments and queries for the week of January 5

Watching Heavy Rescue: 401 and it makes me mad when someone says highway 11 is access to the lakes in the north. It seems like everyone in the south thinks the world ends at Orillia or Barrie. Highway 400 is part of highway 11 and highway 11 is a large part of the Trans Canada highway system. —Roy


Blue Ant Media

Just finished watching Marty and Bam Bam [on Backroad Bounty] for the second time on Netflix then I can’t find it again. What happens to it and will there be more shows? I love these guys. —Rita

Sadly, there were only two seasons of Backroad Bounty made.


I loved the mix of the travelers trying to fit into the roles they rolled into [on Travelers]. The first season there were definitely priority to the missions from the director. The second season had some good fast-paced travelers-only missions, but there was more free time which was used to strengthen the bond between the team member and their inherited family and seeing their struggles. It prepared a solid base for a third season. A lot of potential and it probably will be used to bring them all stronger in the end. Probably with personal choices between love and knowing the partner is from the future. Just hope it won’t be any cliché twist. But I have faith after the writing of the last two seasons. —Rick

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Preview: Season 2 of Heavy Rescue: 401 drives back onto Discovery

I’ve seen some pretty crazy stuff during my decades driving the 400 series highways in southern Ontario. There was the jackknifed tractor-trailer I observed sliding sideways on the northbound 427 as I drove southbound, spinning cars bouncing off one another on the 403 in Hamilton and an elderly woman walking down the offramp onto the 404. I can only imagine the wide range of things witnessed by the police, firefighters, EMTs and tow truck drivers during their careers.

A mere taste of those experiences are featured in Season 2 of Heavy Rescue: 401, returning Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery. The No. 1 specialty program in its timeslot—from the producers of the equally engaging Highway Thru Hell—once again takes cameras into the cabs and onto the roadways of the province’s 400 series highways including the 401 (the busiest stretch of freeway in North America), documenting the heroics and characters keeping those routes clear.

Tuesday’s first episode sets the stage for what’s to come, as Ontario Provincial Police officer Sgt. Kerry Schmidt outlines how everyone has to be vigilant at all times for road conditions to change. And, minutes later, it does just that. A sudden snowstorm—blowing in earlier than expected—turns the 401 at Yonge St. into a sheet of ice. Salters are on high alert. They’re not fast enough, however, and cars start spinning out. It’s here that Heavy Rescue: 401‘s producers really shine; their relationship with the Ministry of Transportation’s massive control centre—the eyes that watch and manage the highways—means they have access to the centre’s camera system and can show real footage as accidents (and drama) unfolds. As interesting as it is to learn about the people who work the highways and arrive at the scene of a collision to show the cleanup, the COMPASS cameras tell the story of how it happened.

The COMPASS cameras capture key footage the following day as a dump truck driver’s box—in the up position—drives straight into a bridge, causing traffic chaos. Enter Steve’s Towing driver Sonny Subra, who rushes to the scene but is hogtied by traffic. Meanwhile, in Barrie, Ont., Classic Towing & Storage’s James is under the gun to clear a unique and surprising breakdown before the next band of snow hits highway 400.

Additional stories covered this season on Heavy Rescue: 401 is the complete shutdown of the 401 twice (once for over 30 hours); more time spent with the OPP and their tales, including an organ transplant run and airborne highway patrol; and Kingston, Ont. being included in episodes.

And with a third season already in production, fans can look forward to more Heavy Rescue: 401 stories in 2019.

What accidents and/or experiences have you had on Ontario’s 400 series highways? Let me know in the comments below.

Heavy Rescue: 401 airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Production underway on Season 2 of Discovery’s original Canadian series Heavy Rescue: 401

From a media release:

Discovery today announced production is underway on a second season of its new, smash hit original Canadian series, HEAVY RESCUE: 401. With the Season 1 finale scheduled to premiere tomorrow night (Feb. 28) at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery, the network has confirmed 10 brand new episodes are already in production for broadcast in early 2018.

Debuting last month to a premiere episode audience of more than 760,000 total viewers, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 became the most-watched premiere in the network’s 22-year history. In all, nearly 3.5 million unique viewers – or one in 10 Canadians – tuned in to the first episode. To date, the series has an average audience of 627,000 viewers in its premiere timeslot.

Produced by Thunderbird Entertainment’s factual arm and the creators of Discovery’s HIGHWAY THRU HELL, Great Pacific Media, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 follows multiple major tow operators, rescue, and maintenance crews day and night along North America’s most intense stretch of highway, Highway 401. With the support of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, York Regional Police, maintenance contractors, and several other organizations, the series features the men and women who keep Ontario’s 400-series highways operating at any cost.

More than 300 people work on the production of HEAVY RESCUE: 401. The series is made possible with the support of the Ontario government’s film tax credit program, and the Canada Media Fund.

HEAVY RESCUE: 401 is produced by Great Pacific Media (a Thunderbird Company) in association with Discovery. Executive Producer is Mark Miller and Blair Reekie. The series producer is Todd Serotiuk.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Ontario’s highways thru hell star in Discovery’s Heavy Rescue: 401

Anyone who relies on Ontario’s 400-series highways knows that, at the best of times, you’ll fly along to your destination. But throw in some weather or boneheaded move by a fellow driver and chaos ensues. That’s what’s captured in Heavy Rescue: 401.

Debuting Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery Canada—and from the same folks behind Highway Thru Hell, Heavy Rescue: 401 tracks the tow truck drivers, provincial police and emergency personnel who work long hours in dangerous conditions to keep cars and trucks full of precious cargo—human, animal and product—safe and on to their destinations. Yes, the west coast’s Coquihalla highway has snow and high peaks, but Ontario’s roads have their own challenges.

“I would fly into Toronto for meetings at Discovery and would drive from the airport and see guys smashing into each other in front of me,” executive producer Mark Miller says. “I’d get to Discovery and tell everyone about the hell I had just been through and they’d say, ‘Yeah, we go through that every day.’ We spoke to tow truck drivers that work the roads and quickly realized there was something there. It was different enough that it makes for a really cool series.” Miller likens the 401 to a spine with manufacturing plants and factories attached to it; the sheer number of tractor trailers needed to transport supplies along that route means jam-packed lanes and accidents waiting to happen.

“It’s all about time,” says longtime Abrams Towing driver John Allen (pictured above), one of several drivers featured in Heavy Rescue: 401. “You have auto parts going to Oshawa, auto parts going out to Windsor. If they get tied up, it’s costing GM or Chrysler or whoever is doing the manufacturing millions of dollars because they don’t have the storage capacity. Their storage is the trucks coming in.” Tuesday’s debut episode wastes no time showing what happens when snowy conditions and several lanes of traffic mix: a multi-vehicle accident has shut down part of the 401 and Allen is among the drivers rushing to the scene. Other companies followed in Season 1’s episodes include Herb’s Towing, Preferred Towing, Ross Services, Steve’s Towing, Classic Heavy Towing and Metro Towing.

Allen, with over 25 years in the towing business, has seen it all on Ontario’s roads and isn’t fazed by the fact he’s about to become a TV star. Instead, he’s more interested in educating viewers about the dangers involved in his profession.

“Part of what I want to get out of this show is for drivers to slow down, move over and give us a little space,” Allen says. “One tow truck driver is killed every six days in North America. That’s more than police officers, firefighters and ambulance drivers put together.” Injuries and death, he says, occur when a tow truck operator is crushed between vehicles or in what he refers to as “the 30 feet of kill zone” between his door and the back of the truck working in an active traffic lane and totally unprotected.

“Not even one in 10 drivers will move over and give me room,” Allen says. “I was watching the episode back and was getting scared! Give me some space in my workplace … that’s all I ask.”

Heavy Rescue: 401 airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery Canada.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Production Underway on Discovery’s New Series Heavy Rescue: 401 from Highway Thru Hell producers

From a media release:

Discovery announced today that production is underway on HEAVY RESCUE: 401, a new original Canadian series set to debut in 2017 based on the network’s hit series HIGHWAY THRU HELL. With the support of the OPP, Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, York Regional police, maintenance contractors, and several other organizations, the new documentary series follows the men and women who keep Ontario’s 400-series highways operating at any cost.

Spanning the Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 follows multiple major tow operators, rescue, and maintenance crews day and night along North America’s most intense stretch of highway. From Sarnia eastbound to Toronto and north to Barrie, the cast of heroes work diligently to keep Canada’s most important and busiest series of highways open through any weather condition. From monster snow storms creating kilometers of mayhem to trucks spilling their loads, these efforts safeguard the country’s most important trade route with the U.S. from grinding to a crippling halt through the worst of the winter driving season.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail