Regina woman worried about road safety after tire punctured near oil refinery

A Regina woman is warning other drivers about a tire spike she picked up near the Co-op oil refinery on Sunday night.

Bonnie McNary says she was driving home from work down McDonald Street and Ninth Avenue North as part of her regular commute.

When she pulled up to her place near the refinery, she heard a hissing noise.

“I looked and there was a homemade caltrop or tire spike in my tire. And I had just driven past the refinery,” she said, describing the spike as roughly made, as if it had been welded together.

Typically, a caltrop is shaped like a miniature tripod, with four spikes all sticking in different directions, with one spike always sticking up.

McNary said she doesn’t have any connection to the ongoing labour dispute between Unifor and management at the oil refinery, and she didn’t see who put the spike on the road or know how it got there.

But she’s aware of previous media reports in which truck drivers have alleged that Unifor members are leaving the tire spikes on roads around the refinery.

Unifor Local 594 president Kevin Bittman has previously denied members are doing that.

“It would be absolutely ridiculous to think that any of our people would do something like that. On the lines every day – that’s where our people are because that’s where the fight is,” he said previously.

McNary said her intent in coming forward is to warn other drivers about potential, dangerous road hazards in the area.

“Just to warn people, because (the perpetrators) are creating a situation that could lead to a life-threatening accident if you happen to blow a tire on the road. So people should know not to be going down the road in that area; it’s a risk,” she said.

She filed a report of her damaged tire with the Regina Police Service.

It’s fortunate neither she nor anyone else was injured, she said.

“It’s pretty frustrating to realize there are people out there specifically planning to cause harm and damage to people who are driving on our roads,” she said.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Jessie Anton