A 71-year-old Tarkio man nearly died on Sept. 2 when his white 1993 Subaru Legacy jumped through the median on Interstate 90 and crashed down an embankment near Tarkio.

The man, who has not been identified, was cited for aggravated driving under the influence and for not wearing a seat belt, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wes Whitlatch. There were eyewitness reports that he was speeding and driving erratically in the westbound lane when he drove through the median and crossed the eastbound lane before crashing through the guard rail and down a 40 foot embankment.

Chadly Johnson from Eugene, Oregon, was traveling with a friend toward Superior when the man passed their vehicle. They noticed him driving erratically and then saw the spray of debris as he crossed over the median into oncoming traffic and through the guard rail.

Johnson said they pulled over and were some of the first people on the scene. The white station wagon had smashed into a tree and caught on fire down in the steep ravine. He said the engine was on fire and too hot for a man with a fire extinguisher to get close.

“I thought there were several people in the car and we were going to watch them burn,” Johnson said, “but then something in the engine blew up, like an air conditioner hose, and it blew about 80 percent of the fire out.”

This allowed the man to extinguish the flames as two other men were able to get the driver out of the car. Johnson, along with several other people who had stopped to help, had to join forces to get him back up the steep hill.

“He was bleeding from his head and once at the top, a woman who was a nurse started to care for him,” Johnson said. Once medical personnel arrived the man was taken by ambulance to Mineral Community Hospital and after he was stabilized he was transferred to Providence Hospital in Missoula for further care involving internal injuries and broken bones.