Snow snarls traffic, closes schools
By William Lundquist
Argus Observer
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 12:59 PM PST
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| Ontario Fire & Rescue firefighters check out the smashed cab of this semi on Interstate 84 north of Ontario Tuesday. Area law enforcement agencies worked a number of accidents Tuesday in the wake of a powerful winter storm. The snowstorm also snarled traffic in the Boise area and forced the closure of a number of school districts in the western Treasure Valley. |
Ontario - Multiple crashes during Tuesday’s snowstorm, including one involving two semis that blocked the westbound lanes of Interstate 84 for more than an hour and severely injured one man, had local law enforcement agencies scrambling to restore traffic flow and get drivers back on the road.
Oregon State Police (OSP) Sgt. Mark Duncan said a chain reaction truck crash began about 1:55 p.m. in the westbound lanes of I-84 just west of Stanton Boulevard when a truck jackknifed. He said a long line of commercial trucks were chaining up along the side of the freeway. Rodney Trotter, 42, Pine Bluff, Ariz., was driving a blue 2004 Freightliner Conventional truck and trailer at about 40 mph in the fast lane. Trotter, Duncan said, explained that another commercial truck, giving the parked trucks a wide berth, drifted into his lane in front of him. When he steered left to avoid the truck, his Freightliner jackknifed.
Following too closely behind the Freightliner, Duncan said, was a blue 2001 Volvo Conventional truck and trailer driven by Fenimore Bergan, 30, Hillsboro. When Bergan applied his brakes, Duncan said, the Volvo collided with the trailer of the Freightliner. The collision forced the Volvo to the right, where it hit another Volvo, a green 2006 Conventional, which was being chained up on the side of the road. Fortunately, Duncan said, the driver who was putting on the chains ran to safety when he heard the first collision. Not so fortunate was Bergan’s passenger, Dustin Fullgraf, 33, Cannonsburg, Penn., who was trapped in the blue Volvo with what Duncan described as very severe injuries to his legs.
The Ontario Fire and Rescue Department assisted the OSP in extricating Fullgraf from the cab. Fire and Rescue Chief Terry Mairs said his crew responded to the wreck and found the semi’s dash had been pushed back so far it had pinned Fullgraf to the seat. The rescuers cut open the door and considered cutting a hole in the semi’s sleeper to try to reach Fullgraf from behind, but decided to first try wedging a device between the door frame and the dash to force the dash back.
“It actually worked really slick,” Mairs said. Fullgraf was taken to Holy Rosary Medical Center by the Treasure Valley Paramedics, he said. Mairs said Fullgraf was awake and talking throughout the rescue.
Duncan said citations are pending the results of the OSP investigation. He said troopers also responded to numerous trucks that spun off during the day on the cloverleaf of Exit 376A westbound, and to several slide-offs on Three Mile Hill between mileposts 356 and 359.
“The No. 1 contributing factor was speed,” Duncan said of all the incidents.
Malheur County Sheriff Andy Bentz said the Oregon State Police (OSP) were “extraordinarily busy,” while his own deputies were responding to one slide off after another, helping drivers get their vehicles towed back onto the road.
He said the northeast corner of Malheur County was hardest hit. Bentz said eight weather-related crashes were called in, but his deputies responded to many more slide-offs while on patrol. He said none of them resulted in injuries.
In the city, Ontario Police Department Capt. Mark Alexander said a series of crashes started with one at 9 a.m. on Southwest 11th Avenue at Southwest Fourth Street, where a car going too fast and following too close for the snowy conditions rear-ended a pickup. He said Veronica Aguilar, 20, Ontario, was cited for following too close when her 1997 Mercury sedan ran into the back of a 1996 Chevrolet pickup driven by Rogelio Becerril, 50, Ontario, which was stopped at an intersection.
Another crash resulted at 9:40 a.m. at Southwest Second Street and Fourth Avenue when Jeffrey Monahan, 28, Ontario, was trying to make a turn and his 1994 Dodge sedan slid into the trailer of a 1993 Kenworth semi. Alexander said Monahan was cited for careless driving.
He said most crashes in the snow are the result of drivers going too fast for the conditions.
There were no injuries in the two crashes.
