Two drivers injured in Hwy. 97 crash S. of La Pine

(Update: OSP says pickup driver turned left into car’s path)

Two drivers were injured, at least one seriously, in a crash Thursday morning south of La Pine at the junction of U.S. Highway 97 and state Highway 31, authorities said.

La Pine Rural Fire District medics were called shortly before 7:30 a.m. to the reported pickup-car crash, said Chief Mike Supkis.

Oregon State Police Lt. Mark Duncan said a preliminary investigation found that a black 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup was heading south and the male driver and lone occupant was making a left turn onto state Highway 31.

Duncan said the driver “turned directly into the path” of a white 2007 Hyundai Accent four-door, also driven by a male who was alone, and the two collided in the northbound lane.

The car caught fire due to the crash impact and the driver was pinned inside “with very serious injuries,” Supkis said in a news release.

A good Samaritan passer-by knocked down the fire with an extinguisher, the chief added.

A total of 14 La Pine firefighter/medics responded to the scene and finished putting out the fire, removed the car’s driver and treated both men on the scene of the crash, which blocked Highway 97 for about an hour.

The car’s driver was flown by Air Link helicopter to St. Charles Bend, Supkis said, while the pickup driver was taken to the Bend hospital by a Crescent Fire ambulance.

The fire chief said the road conditions were dry and the weather clear at the time of the crash, which was being investigated by Oregon State Police and Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies. ODOT coordinated traffic control at the scene.

Duncan said he expected to release the drivers’ names later.