UPDATED, 1 p.m.: BRINNON — The Washington State Patrol today named the driver who perished in a head-on crash with a gasoline tanker truck as “John Doe,” testimony to the devastation of the 1996 Ford Explorer he or she was driving.
U.S. Highway 101 south of Brinnon was reopened early today after it was closed for more than six hours because of the collision.
The earlier report follows:
BRINNON – A fiery head-on collision late Monday afternoon that threatened to ignite 11,000 gallons of gasoline killed one person and blocked U.S. Highway 101 into the night.
The crash between a sport utility vehicle and a Pettit Oil Co. tanker truck occurred shortly after 5 p.m. south of Brinnon between the Dosewallips River and the Jefferson-Mason county line.
Emergency crews were hoping to have the traffic flowing again by midnight, said Washington State Patrol spokesman Trooper Brian George.
The driver of the Pettit tanker truck, William Kjesbu of Hoquiam, managed to escape the mangled wreck and was transported to Mason General Hospital in Shelton with minor injuries.
He was released Monday night, George said.
The person driving a Ford Explorer was unidentified.
Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Katherine Gulmert arrived at the scene to pronounce the Explorer driver dead.
