Police in Kootenays respond to S.O.S. signal, find woman who needs driveway cleared

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A Kootenays woman received a talking to from police after sending out an unwarranted S.O.S.

The Trail RCMP were called on Jan. 4 at 11:13 p.m. for a report of a light flashing an S.O.S. signal from Lookout Street in the community.

A resident had noticed the light and reported it to police, later guiding officers to the source of the signal.

The officers hiked through the deep snow of a long, unplowed driveway to arrive at the residence. Mountie were greeted by a 37-year-old woman, who was in good health, but was stranded inside her home due to her unplowed driveway.

The woman said she was trying to signal the Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue or City of Trail to attend the residence to help her clear snow off the driveway.

Officers provided the woman with “guidance” on how to get the driveway cleared of snow and warned her to not use S.O.S. in similar situations.

“S.O.S.(three dots/three dashes/three dots) is an international Morse code distress signal can stand for Save Our Souls or Save Our Ship. We ask the public to only used it in emergency situations,” said Sgt. Wicentowich.

“Trail RCMP would like to thank the 41-year-old Trail woman for contacting and guiding us to the distress signal with surprising accuracy. The attending officers were impressed with her ability to interpret the signal and help us quickly find the location.”