GARDINER – High winds were blamed for a tree falling across both lanes of U.S. Highway 101, which led to a wreck on Wednesday.
Other trees in the area were knocked down by wind gusts Wednesday, but Dennis Smedsrud, spokesperson for Puget Sound Energy, said no one in Jefferson County reported power outages on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service had warned of winds that could gust up to 65 miles per hour through coastal communities on Wednesday, saying a storm front would cross the North Olympic Peninsula on region Wednesday night.
As road crews worked to clear U.S. Highway 101 near Gardiner after the tree fell, vehicles were stopped in both directions.
At 2:13 p.m., William Purbaugh, 78, of Quilcene had stopped in his 1972 GMC pickup just east of Gardiner Beach Road when a 2002 Toyota slammed into the back of his truck, according to the State Patrol.
The Toyota was driven by a 17-year-old boy from Sequim, with a 16-year-old girl, also from Sequim, traveling as a passenger, police said.
The impact sent Purbaugh’s GMC into the back of a Blue 2000 Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Dan Kinzler, 71, of Bremerton.
No one was injured.
The 16-year-old female passenger in the Toyota truck was taken to Jefferson Healthcare hospital.
Normally, she would not have been taken to the hospital, but because she was a minor and her guardian didn’t show up to the scene, the law says she must be taken to the hospital, said Discovery Bay Fire Chief Ben Cooper.
Both the Toyota and GMC trucks were total losses, while the Chevrolet Trailblazer sustained minor damage, said State Patrol Trooper Grant Clark.
Purbaugh said that he had intended to restore the ’72 GMC truck in the upcoming month.
The tree that fell less than a mile east of the wreck was cleared soon after it fell.
Highway 101 was limited to a single lane of traffic for about 45 minutes while the wreck was being cleaned up.
In the same area Wednesday, on Gardiner Beach Road near the boat ramp, a large tree fell and blocked the road, but was cut by road crews that afternoon.
A utility pole, also on Gardiner Beach Road, fell from high winds just down the street from the fallen tree.
It was still sprawled in one lane of the road as of about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
