Author of the article: Calvi Leon • Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Photo of Nicholas Cheeseman (Submitted by the St. Thomas Fire Department)
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A St. Thomas firefighter has been identified as the man killed in a motorcycle accident Thursday night.
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Nicholas Cheeseman, 34, of Port Stanley, died at the scene after the motorcycle he was riding collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Elm Street and Coulter Avenue just outside St. Thomas around 8:30 p.m., Elgin OPP said. Cheeseman was a firefighter with the St. Thomas Fire Department for four years, said Kim Destun, prevention officer. “We’re still processing (the news),” he said. “It was devastating. We are a fairly small and close-knit department. . . . We just hope to support the family in any way we can.” The crash came on the same day the OPP held a news conference to sound the alarm over the increasing number of motorcycle deaths in the area so far this year. Thursday’s fatal crash brings the number of motorcycle fatalities this year to 13 on OPP-patrolled roads in the Western Region, an area that includes Southwestern Ontario, compared to seven so far last year in the region. In fatal crashes this year, motorcyclists accounted for 70 percent of crashes, prompting the OPP to urge riders to take extra safety precautions on the roads. “As you can see, we have a problem with lethal consequences,” Insp. Shawn Johnson of the OPP West Region traffic and shipping unit said at Thursday’s news conference. This year’s death toll is still below the all-time high in 2016, when there were 19 motorcycle deaths in the Western Region. The lowest toll, seven deaths, was recorded in 2012. [email protected] Twitter.com/CalviatLFPress
