Crash kills driver, seriously injures ODOT snowplow operator

A pickup driver was killed and an ODOT snowplow driver seriously injured Saturday morning in a collision on snow-covered state Highway 3 in northeast Oregon’s Wallowa County, Oregon State Police said.

Troopers and emergency personnel responded just after 8 a.m. to the reported crash on Highway 3 near milepost 15.

Troopers said a preliminary investigation found the ODOT snowplow was southbound on the highway and the Dodge pickup with two occupants was headed north when the driver, negotiating a curve, lost control and the truck went into the oncoming lane and the plow’s path.

The pickup’s driver died of his injuries on the scene, while the passenger was flown to a nearby hospital, OSP reported. The snowplow driver was taken by ambulance to Wallowa Memorial Hospital in Enterprise with serious injuries.

The names of those involved were withheld to give time for extended family notifications, troopers said.

The crash and investigation closed the highway for nearly six hours. OSP was assisted by ODOT, the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office and the Wallowa Fire Department.

KTVZ 2019