DCSO: Icy, slick roads make for rash of crashes
With recent snow turning to ice or thawing and making for slick roads, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies responded to several crashes around the region Thursday, from an overturned cattle truck on Highway 97 south of La Pine to an injury crash into a tree on the Old Bend-Redmond Highway north of Tumalo Road.
“Please use caution and drive carefully if you have to drive this morning,” a post to their Facebook page said.
In the late morning, two people were injured when a car left Old Bend-Redmond Highway, went down an embankment and struck a tree. Two occupants were being taken to St. Charles Bend, reportedly with non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputies warned the road was extremely slick in spots — and many are.
Sheriff’s deputies, Oregon State Police troopers and ODOT personnel helped with the overturned cattle trailer on Highway 97 south of La Pine, Sgt. William Bailey said.
Six cows, apparently uninjured, were rescued from the trailer and transfered to a second trailer brought to the scene. But Bailey said one small black cow escaped a makeshift corral during transfer and last was seen in the area of Sixth Street west of La Pine. Observers were asked to report any sightings to dispatchers at 541-693-6911.