Icy roads hit C.O.: Semi rolls on north end of Redmond

(Update: Correcting that Lone Pine crash was Saturday AM)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Rain, freezing rain, fog and sub-freezing temperatures early Sunday made for slick roads around the High Desert and was an apparent factor in a semi-truck rollover on U.S. Highway 97 on the north end of Redmond.

Redmond Fire & Rescue crews responded around 7:20 a.m. Sunday and found a semi-truck rolled onto its side on Highway 97 at milepost 119, Battalion Chief Garrick Terry said.

The driver was not trapped but needed help climbing down from the truck’s cab. Part of the trailer’s load of cat litter and baking soda spilled on to the road, and diesel fuel was leaking as well. Terry said

“Ironically, the spilled contents helped with controlling the diesel leak,” Terry said, adding that “slick roads this morning definitely contributed” to the crash.

There were several other crashes and slide-offs around the region Sunday morning, including ones on the O'Neil Highway near milepost 11 and on Forest Service Road 14 near Camp Sherman.

Earlier in the weekend, Redmond Fire & Rescue crews were called around 5:20 a.m. Saturday to a reported two-vehicle crash involving a pickup and car at the intersection of Lone Pine Road and Smith Rock Way, Battalion Chief Ron Hawkins said.

The arrived to find possibly four patients, and it took engine companies from Terrebonne and Crook County about 45 minutes free one driver from the wreckage, Hawkins said.

Two people were taken to hospitals by ambulance, Hawkins said, adding that fog in the area prevented crews from using air ambulances. Crook County sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police also were on scene.