Icy roads were a contributor to three crashes Friday in the Sweet Home Fire & Ambulance District.
The first occurred at approximately 6 a.m. when a Toyota Tacoma pickup driven by Julian Cezar Chavez, 19, crashed into a power pole in the 40800 block of Highway 228, just south of Valley View Drive.
According to Oregon State Police, Chavez, whose city of residence was not listed. lost control after hitting ice and crashed into the pole, downing lines along the highway. The vehicle also struck a residential fence. The truck was towed by Lebanon Towing, according to OSP.
Shortly thereafter, at 5:50 a.m., another crash occurred in the 27600 block of Highway 20.
Fire Chief Nick Tyler said multiple cars were involved over a span of about a quarter of a mile in the Narrows.
A report on the crash did not clearly designate who the drivers were, but said two of the vehicles involved were a Jeep SUV that, according to OSP, was traveling westbound when it slid out of control “due to the icy conditions.”
The Jeep slid into the oncoming lane, colliding with a Hyundai SUV.
“A secondary crash occurred in the same location due to icy conditions,” the OSP report said.
“Four cars were banged up over a quarter of a mile,” Tyler said, adding that vehicles passing the area were moving “very fast” through the Narrows as public safety workers “tried to work” in the area.
“That creates a very dangerous condition for us out there as we’re trying to do our jobs.”
Tyler said that people need to slow down when the temperatures are near freezing, adding that air temperatures at the time ranged from 31 to 33 degrees.
“People can unexpectedly hit ice,” he said. “They need to be cognititve of the situation when temperatures are freezing.”
Following an accident, Tyler said, drivers “need to slow down and give our guys space, be respectful of what they are doing on the roadways.”
Tyler noted that the Highway 228 crash occurred “100 yards away” from the location of a similar crash that also took place in icy road conditions, resulting in the death of a Foster man on Feb. 8.
He said Chavez, the driver on Friday morning, “was very lucky,” as he walked away from the crash.
SHFAD and OSP units responded Friday afternoon at 3:57 p.m. to another crash on Highway 20, near Milepost 62, east of Sweet Home.
According to OSP, a Ford F150 pickup driven by Jonathan James Eno, 23, of Albany, was westbound on the highway when Eno passed a snow plow and lost control on the ice, the truck spinning into the eastbound lane and colliding with a Toyota Tundra pickup driven by Kimberly Kay Coffell, 60, of Bend. The Ford, still spinning, then struck a Toyota Corolla driven by Michelle A. Dickinson, whose city of residence was not listed.
Coffell was transported to Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital with minor injuries, according to OSP. Eno’s truck sustained heavy damage and was towed, as was the Tundra, which had front-end damage. The Corolla was driven from the scene, according to OSP.