Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home’s icy weather Sunday evening was far less intense than what communities on the Willamette Valley floor experienced, officials said Monday.
Road conditions resulted in school closures in Sweet Home and most other mid-valley communities Monday, including Oregon State University and Linn-Benton Community College.
Icy surfaces caused back-to-back accidents in the 3000 block of Main Street. Beyond that, the freeze had little impact on Sweet Home at a time where sheets of ice covered some roads in the valley.
The first local crash, reported at 6:45 p.m. on Sunday, involved Seth Erickson, 17, driving a gray 2002 Dodge Durango, said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. He was eastbound traveling at an estimated 40 mph when he lost control due to ice. His vehicle collided with a fire hydrant, causing it to roll onto its side.
He sustained small lacerations, Lynn said. Sweet Home medics responded, but Erickson was not transported, Lynn said.
No citations were issued.
Another crash at the same location, just after Erickson’s but prior to the arrival of police, involved two vehicles – a blue 1991 Toyota pickup driven by Austin Lopez, 19, and a white 2012 GMC Sierra pickup driven by Kasie VanDeusen, 29.
The Toyota was eastbound in the outside lane when it went out of control and slid into the Sierra, which was traveling east in the inside lane, Lynn said. Neither driver was injured.
VanDeusen was cited for driving while suspended, but no citations were issued directly relating to the crash, Lynn said.
Police received no further reports of crashes or issues related to the weather, Lynn said. The icy roads didn’t cause any issues for the officers.
“These two wrecks were pretty much when it started freezing,” Lynn said.
Other than the two crashes, the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District didn’t respond to any weather-related calls, said Fire Chief Dave Barringer. The district did respond to several medical calls, and some of those were for falls. He was not sure if they were related to slipping on ice.
“What was interesting ,though, is the rest of the valley, Lebanon and Albany, were running hard,” Barringer said.
The Sweet Home department brought in extra staff to prepare for a busy night. At one point, 9 p.m. when the extra two staff members showed up, the district had three medic units out on calls; and with Lebanon so busy, Barringer didn’t expect mutual aid to be available.
With the number of calls in the valley, Barringer expected Sweet Home to be answering mutual aid calls, he said. As it turned out, his crew didn’t need to leave town, and Sweet Home’s activity slowed down too.
The district didn’t have any issues with the ice, he said, but it did warn its employees and volunteers to be aware of the icy conditions. The district was prepared with chains for its equipment if necessary.
“East county, we didn’t have any accidents,” said Lt. Michelle Duncan of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. LCSO took one call on Highway 20 just east of Lebanon for Oregon State Police.
Sweet Home avoided the worst of it because the temperature was higher at higher elevations, said Gerald Macke, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service.
The cold air pooled up on the lowlands, with a warm layer above it. Rain fell through the warm layer then froze in the cold layer at the bottom, freezing when as it fell.
The Weather Service was predicting temperatures to stay above freezing Monday night, with precipitation moving in over night as rain, followed Tuesday by a chance of showers an’d gradual warming into the 40s, with possible patchy fog.
Forecasters expected Wednesday’s temperatures to head into the 40-45 range and weather to remain mild with partly cloudy skies, highs in the 40s and lows in the 30s.