Posted: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 12:00 am
Ambulance crews from Albany, Lebanon, Corvallis and Sweet Home scrambled to cover three separate vehicle collisions, two with critical injuries, that occurred within half an hour of each other Friday evening.
Emergency dispatchers in the Linn County 911 center also had to juggle medical calls and other requests for assistance during that time period, at one point sending an Albany ambulance to a call in Scio.
The first injury crash, at 6:20 p.m., involved a pickup and SUV colliding in one northbound lane of Interstate 5, south of Albany between Grand Prairie and Three Lakes roads.
The collision trapped one person. Oregon State Police requested an ambulance, which took one person to Samaritan Albany General Hospital. The I-5 crash involved 1995 Ford F250 pickup, traveling north, that rear-ended a 2002 silver Dodge Durango.
OSP reports said the driver of the Ford, Lawrence Wayne Horner, 56, of Tangent was cited for careless driving.
A passenger in the Durango, Sandra Durnett, 26, was taken to Samaritan Albany General Hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
The OSP officer at the scene was called to a Highway 20 crash before he had time to check Durnett's residence and the identity of the Durango's driver, who did not require hospitalization.
At 6:48 p.m., Lebanon medics, assisted by Corvallis, were called to the intersection of Denny School Road and Oak Street for a collision involving a Ford van and a Jeep Liberty. Six people were injured.
The van and Jeep collided, rolling the Jeep. Five patients were taken to Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.
Senior Deputy Dan Brewer of the Linn County Sheriff's Office said the Liberty, driven by Michelle Anderson, 17, of Lebanon, was headed west on Oak Street when she was blinded by rays from the setting sun and went through the intersection.
The Ford van, heading north toward Highway 34, struck the Jeep and rolled it, trapping Anderson inside. Firefighters had to knock out a windshield to free her. She was taken to Good Samaritan in Corvallis with critical injuries, and was listed as stable on Saturday. No information was available about her condition on Tuesday.
Passengers Kelli Anderson, 15, the driver's sister; and friend Michael Van Atta, 15, were taken to the Lebanon hospital with minor injuries, where a nursing supervisor said they were treated and released.
The occupants of the van were driver Dean Albert Clark, 69, of Salem; his wife, Phyllis, 65; and daughter Sarah, no age listed. All three went to the Lebanon hospital, but the daughter refused medical treatment. Her parents were treated and released, Brewer said.
No citations were issued.
At 7:02, Lebanon, Albany and Sweet Home ambulance crews were called to the intersection of Gerig Drive and Santiam Highway north of Lebanon for another two-vehicle collision. Five people were injured, four of them members of one family.
The collision involved a 2000 Dodge Dakota and a 1985 Ford Bronco.
The pickup was headed east on Highway 20 near Gerig Drive when it made a left-hand turn toward a driveway and into the path of the Blazer.
The driver of the Dakota, Jonathan Bloodgood, 44, of Albany, was arrested and charged with reckless driving, driving under the influence of intoxicants (alcohol), second-degree assault and four counts of fourth-degree assault. He was cited and released.
His passenger, Susan K. Wilson, 49, of Albany was taken by Air Reach helicopter to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, where she was listed in fair condition on Tuesday morning.
Bloodgood had been injured but refused medical treatment.
All four occupants in the Blazer were hospitalized with minor injuries, two at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital and two at Samaritan Albany General Hospital, and have since been released. OSP Senior Trooper Huff Meyr said they were Reice Moyer Sr., 30, of Lebanon; Teri Chapin, 28, of Lebanon; Reice Moyer Jr., 9, and Theodore Leroy Moyer, 4.
Highway 20 was blocked for more than three hours while the crash team investigated, Meyr said.
In the nearly four-hour period between 5:15 p.m. and 8:55 p.m. on Friday, the Albany, Sweet Home, and Lebanon fire districts, with help from others in the area, responded to 21 calls, said Lebanon Fire Chief Perry Palmer.
In addition to the three accidents from 6:20 to 7:02 p.m., Sweet Home ambulances were called to one accident and Albany to two accidents between 5:15 and 5:32 p.m.
Altogether, 21 ambulances and engines responded to the accidents.
Of the other calls, 11 were medical (falls, strokes and trouble breathing, for example), one was an emergency transfer from one hospital to another, and two were fire alarms in Albany.
Reporter Jennifer Moody contributed to this story.