Crash on Snowy Hwy. 97 S. of Bend Injures 5

Rain turned to snow and made for slick, even treacherous driving south of Bend Saturday morning, causing several crashes on Highway 97 and other nearby roads.

The worst injury crash involved two semis and two other vehicles and blocked the highway around milepost 154 north of Lava Butte, and another crash was reported to be blocking or slowing traffic nearly 10 miles to the south, just south of the Century Drive off-ramp.

AirLink was placed on standby and several agencies responded with Oregon State Police taking the lead role, as usually happens on crashes along state highways.

OSP troopers said Sunday that are continuing the investigation into Saturday morning’s multi-vehicle crash on Highway 97 about 14 miles north of La Pine that resulted in several injuries and the highway to be closed for 1 1/2 hours. Five people were transported to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend with non-life-threatening injuries.

With many people traveling to return home at the end of spring break, OSP and ODOT urged drivers to be prepared for winter driving conditions in the Cascades and other mountain passes. Keep up on current road and driving conditions before you leave by checking ODOT’s website www.TripCheck.com.

According to Senior Trooper William Duran, around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, a 2008 Jeep SUV driven by Paige Flanagan, 34, of Portland, was northbound on Highway 97 near milepost 154 when she lost control on the icy road.

The Jeep slid across the highway into the southbound lanes, where it collided with a 2009 Chevrolet pickup pulling a utility trailer driven by Dustin Kissel, 41, of Yakima, Washington. After impact, the Jeep traveled off the highway and overturned.

The pickup slid across the northbound lanes and collided with a commercial truck driven by Allan WILSON, 56, of Edmonton, Alberta. The utility trailer broke loose and slid across the highway. A 2002 Buick four-door driven by Laura, Mendoza, 36, of Medford, drove off the northbound shoulder to avoid the collision.

Flanagan and passenger Angela Emmons, 22, of Portland, were transported for treatment.

Kissel was not injured but his wife, Yoremy, 39, and their two daughters ages 13 and 8 were transported for treatment, troopers said. Wilson also was unhurt, and were Mendoza and her four passengers.

All of the vehicle occupants were using seat belts, troopers said.

OSP troopers from the Bend Area Command office are continuing the investigation. Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Sunriver Fire Department, La Pine Rural Fire Protection District and ODOT assisted at the scene.

“The roads are horrible,” one officer was heard saying on the police scanner around 9:45 a.m. as calls were made for ODOT to sand the road.

Responding to one of the crashes, a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy reportedly crashed his SUV on Highway 97 at Pinecrest Lane in La Pine. The rollover crash caused front-end damage to the rig but reportedly minor injuries to the deputy.

To the south, a tree fell across Spring River Road near Stellar Drive, blocking it for a time.

It also was reported to be snowing hard in Redmond, with residents reporting up to two inches on the ground. But on Bend’s south end, snow turned to rain as temperatures dropped toward freezing, then back to rain as they warmed again in an apparent battle between colder and warmer air amid the latest storm.

And it snowed again in Bend on Sunday afternoon, April Fool’s Day — no foolin’ — though it didn’t stick, amid the sunshine.