Three accidents occurred within a few hours Monday afternoon all on Highway 200. The first was a few miles west of Dixon, the second was an overturned semi-trailer in the Perma Curves and the third happened near Paradise. All three accidents resulted in temporary closures of Highway 200.

The first accident involved an overturned SUV travelling eastbound on Highway 200 toward Dixon. Plains-Paradise Rural Fire Department along with Montana Highway Patrol was dispatched around 4 p.m. The single occupant of the vehicle waived medical treatment at the scene and appeared to be uninjured.

The second accident involved an overturned tractor-trailer in the Perma Curves east of Paradise. MHP officer Shad Andersen said the driver said he had been travelling the speed limit and the load he was carrying may have shifted. The truck was carrying lumber. Officer Andersen said the stretch of highway where the accident occurred is particularly dangerous for truck traffic.

“I’ve been on probably three of these types of accidents at this curve. They come in here a little top heavy. I imagine the load shifted with those little pieces of lumber,” said Andersen.

Andersen said the driver was conscious, alert and uninjured but was pinned in the vehicle. Plains-Paradise Rural Fire Department Assistant Chief James Russell said that rescuers had to move several obstacles before they could remove the driver.

“There was entrapment. The steering column was holding him in there so we had to move that. We had to move the windshield and cut out some other metal that was in the way,” said Russell.

The driver was extracted from the vehicle after approximately 30 minutes. He was placed on a stretcher and taken to a waiting ambulance for transport to Clark Fork Valley Hospital. According to Andersen, the driver was talking and joking with responders during the extraction.

The third accident occurred near Paradise. According to Officer Darlene Lee, an 87- year-old woman was in a vehicle that rolled down an embankment. She was picked up from the scene of the accident by occupants of a passing vehicle and driven west of Paradise where they were met by the Plains Ambulance Service. She was stabilized and transferred from the vehicle to the waiting ambulance where she was transported to CFVH.

During all three accidents, traffic was blocked in order for emergency services to conduct operations. In each case, east and westbound traffic was delayed for approximately 20 minutes.