Flames engulfed two vehicles after a deadly crash west of Glenwood on Feb. 3, 2021. No one was in the vehicles when the fire engulfed the vehicles. Photo: Forest Grove Fire & Rescue
A Tillamook man died in a head-on collision between a log truck and a pickup truck about one mile west of the Timber Road junction on Highway 6, the Oregon State Police said.
According to OSP and Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, the crash occurred around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday February 3 near milepost 37 on the Wilson River Highway.
A preliminary investigation by OSP noted that a Ford F150 operated by Jerry Jefferies, 73, of Tillamook was westbound toward Tillamook when the driver lost control of the truck on the icy road, crossed into the eastbound lane of the highway. Jefferies collided with a Peterbilt log truck operated by Jacob Douglas, 61, also of Tillamook.
Jefferies died at the scene; Douglas was not injured.
Passers-by pulled Jefferies from the pickup before it and the log truck became engulfed in flames, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue said.
Forest Grove Fire & Rescue firefighters extinguish the flames from two vehicles after a deadly crash west of Glenwood on Feb. 3, 2021. Photo: Forest Grove Fire & Rescue
Another crash occurred about an hour later while crews were still responding to the first crash, this one three miles west of the first crash, involving a single vehicle that rolled over with three occupants inside.
One patient was taken to a trauma hospital from the crash.
Highway 6 was closed for several hours.
Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, Banks Fire District 13, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, Oregon State Police, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and ODOT all responded to the scene.
Forest Grove Fire & Rescue responds to the scene of a fatal crash west of Glenwood on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. Photo: FGF&R
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.