Friday, November 15, 2024
42.0°F

Collision starts fire near George

Herald Managing Editor | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 3 months AGO
by Herald Managing EditorBill Stevenson
| July 20, 2011 6:00 AM

GEORGE - A teenager tried passing a pickup on Interstate 90, collided with the truck and led the vehicles to start a fire eight miles west of George on Sunday.

Benjamin Mitchell, 18, Cashmere, was driving a 1991 Saab when he tried to pass Kevin Hill Sr., 38, Ephrata, driving his 2002 Chevrolet pickup, when their vehicles collided, the Washington State Patrol reported Monday.

Mitchell allegedly tried to pass on the left and lost control of the car, over-corrected and struck the pickup leading both vehicles to leave I-90 to the right. The pickup rolled and landed on its wheels.

The vehicles caught fire and led to an area of brush being burned, according to the state patrol.

A Spokane family stopped to render help.

"There was a red pickup double-cab truck on fire with three men inside. My brother-in-law (Kevin Wakefield) jumped out of my car ... he ran to the car and there were men helping the front seat passengers out of the car already," wrote Teresa Mertens to the Columbia Basin Herald.

Wakefield was able to pull a victim from a backseat through a window.

"My niece gave one man her sweater to lay under his head. There was blood everywhere," Mertens wrote.

A doctor stopped to assist with the injured while people waited about 40 minutes for an emergency crew to arrive, she stated.

Kevin Hill Sr. was airlifted to Central Washington Hospital for a reported head and neck injuries.

His sons and passengers, Kevin Hill Jr., 19, and Joshua Hill, 17, were transported to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake for reported head injuries, according to the state patrol.

Mitchell and his passenger, Taylor E. Mitchell, 21, Wenatchee, did not report any injuries but were transported to Samaritan Hospital as a precaution.

The state patrol listed the cause of the accident as improper lane travel and recommended charges of improper lane travel.

ARTICLES BY BILL STEVENSON

House won't vote on MLIRD bill
February 29, 2012 5 a.m.

House won't vote on MLIRD bill

Senator to hold public hearings, work sessions

OLYMPIA - The Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation (MLIRD) reform bill will not be voted on by the state House of Representatives.

Irrigation district dredge sinks on Moses Lake
December 30, 2011 8:09 a.m.

Irrigation district dredge sinks on Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE - The dredge used to remove sediment from Moses Lake was found partially submerged in Parker Horn in September.

Moses Lake man reported missing
December 28, 2011 5 a.m.

Moses Lake man reported missing

EPHRATA - A search for 64-year-old Dan Toya was halted Saturday, but the investigation into his disappearance continues.