OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A dump truck crushed a pickup truck during a three-vehicle collision Wednesday morning on U.S. Highway 101 at Lake Crescent that sent four people to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.
None of those transported to OMC appeared to have life-threatening injuries, according to Jake Patterson, deputy chief of Clallam County Fire District 2.
Their medical conditions were not available Wednesday from OMC.
“The dump truck was sitting on top of one of the trucks,” Patterson said.
The wreck involving three vehicles near the La Poel picnic grounds on U.S. Highway 101, Milepost 24, prompted the closure of both lanes of the roadway from about 10 a.m. to nearly 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Motorists were detoured to state Highways 112 and 113.
The State Patrol said in its memo that the cause of the crash was inattention by dump truck driver Tingley B. Walker of Sedro-Woolley and wheels off roadway.
The crash is being investigated by Olympic National Park, within which Lake Crescent lies.
The State Patrol said the crash occurred at 9:55 a.m. Wednesday.
Tingley was eastbound on Highway 101.
James M. Murray, 68, and Maryann Beck, 64, both of Sequim, were westbound.
Arthur J. Beck, 82, was a passenger in the vehicle driven by Maryann Beck.
Tingley’s International dump truck left the roadway to the right, over-corrected to the left, overturned, and lost its load of rocks, according to the State Patrol.
It struck Murray’s Toyota Tacoma pickup and came to rest on top of Maryann Beck’s Chevrolet Silverado pickup, troopers said.
Patterson said the Jaws of Life apparatus was employed to extricate a person from one of the trucks.
One man appeared to have serious injuries, one man had moderate injuries, and a man and woman appeared to have minor injuries, Patterson said.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.
