A Garibaldi woman is dead after a Washington driver drove into oncoming traffic on Highway 6 just west of the Washington and Tillamook County line Friday, Oregon State Police said.
The call was initially reported near the community of Glenwood, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue (FGF&R) said. As they drove to the scene, the crash was determined to be close to the summit of the Coast Range, FGF&R said.
"Crews arrived on scene to find the crash near Milepost 32.5, which is just over the border in Tillamook County," the agency said.
According to a press release from the state issued on Monday, crews were dispatched to the scene around 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 3.
Two vehicles were involved.
The Oregon State Police said their preliminary investigation showed that a westbound Mazda 3, driven by Brissa Guadalupe Olivarez Garcia, 27, of Vancouver, Washington entered the eastbound passing lane and struck an eastbound Scion xD, driven by Deanna Kay Bollinger, 57, of Garibaldi.
OSP said they had not determined why Olivarez Garcia entered the opposing lane.
Bollinger died in the head-on collision. Olivarez Garcia was extracted by rescue crews and transported to a landing zone established just east of the crash at the entrance to Browns Camp and taken by a Life Flight Network helicopter to an area hospital with serious injuries.
The highway was closed for nearly six hours as investigators and rescue crews worked at the scene.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, OSP said.
Also on scene were crews from the Banks Fire District, the Tillamook Fire District, the Tillamook County Sheriff's Office, the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and AMR.
