Sheri Johnson, acting fire chief in Wandering River, Alta., says most volunteers aren't capable of handling the serious accidents that occur weekly on Highway 63. (CBC)Alberta's emergency management agency is trying to figure out how to deal with crashes on a deadly stretch of Highway 63.

Two volunteer fire departments have already pulled away from covering the highway along Wandering River, northeast of Edmonton. They say the burden of responding to accidents on the busy highway, as well as providing emergency services for their own towns, is just too much.

For the past month, Plamondon's fire department had been sharing responsibility with the department in Grasslands after the force in Wandering River suspended its operations in June. But starting Monday, Plamondon will have to cover it alone.

Provincial Fire Commissioner Trent West acknowledged such work can stretch the abilities of smaller fire departments.

(CBC) "It is a potentiality that a fire service may say, "Hey look, we don't have the resources or we don't have the training or we don't have the equipment to effectively do this anymore and we're going to have to stop," West said.

"We don't want to burn them out, too," West said of the Plamondon force.

"This is just a short-term solution, and we'll continue looking at mid- and long-term solutions for Highway 63," he said, adding he'll be meeting with the deputy minister of municipal affairs to discuss the situation.

Plamondon fire Chief James Eleniak says his force can handle the job.

"It's going to take some time to figure out what to do," Eleniak said. "And we've been willing to help them out and take over that highway.

Plamondon's fire department is a small force that is paid for each incident it responds to, Eleniak said. It also receives support from neighbouring Lac La Biche.

In June the volunteer fire department in Wandering River suspended its operations. Sheri Johnson, the department's acting fire chief, said handling serious accidents on one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the province was a big reason why the volunteers quit.

Most volunteers aren't capable of handling what are often traumatic incidents that occur, on average, about once a week, Johnson said.

"There are a lot of people who don't feel it's the volunteer's job to be scraping people up off the highway, which is what we've done a fair amount of," she said. "A lot of people just can't handle it."