Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2015)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 Local I-84 mega-crash Continued from Page 1 Moments later, other first responders began to arrive. While attempting to start the triage process, Taggart said, “Ryan and four other people literally had to jump over the guardrail to keep from getting hit.” From there, first respon - ers began walking through the wreckage, knocking on windows to assess the extent of the damage and injuries. Taggart said they located the most critically injured—one person with internal injuries and an- other with profuse bleed- ing—near the back of the pileup. And in the midst of removing and transferring patients to the hospital, more vehicles continued to crash. “So the scene kept getting bigger,” Taggart added. The fact that no fatali- ties occurred, said Taggart, “is amazing.” He went on to say, “Amazing things happened. I can’t speak enough to the people who were there.” Many on site credit a handful of bystanders for possibly saving the lives of the two most severely injured victims. “They kept them warm, still, and stopped the bleeding,” Tag- gart said. “Keeping them warm and stopping the bleeding are the two most important things to do, and they did that.” Taggart believes the way the various respond- ers came together over the disaster was “tremendous.” He credits Dispatch, the staff at the hospital, the La Grande Fire Depart- ment, Life Flight, Oregon State Police (OSP) (one officer was heard over the radio as having worked a 22-hour shift), the Oregon Department of Transpor- tation (ODOT), the tow companies with employees working all day, and many others with handling a bad situation in the best pos- sible way. While the medical teams worked to get care for the victims, Donn Christy of Superior Towing was seated in one of his compa- ny’s two on-site wreckers waiting for the chance to start clearing debris so that the freeway could reopen quickly. “In my 17-year career,” said Christy, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Superior Towing arrived at the crash site around 5:15 a.m., Christy believes. His two wreckers, along with a host of support equipment ranging from lowboy trailers to heavy duty forklifts, entered the freeway through a gate directly onto the freeway, then had to go the “wrong direction” in efforts to reach the front of the crash. Once at the scene, Christy and the incident commander made the decision to call in two additional tow companies, including local competitor, Roadrunner Towing, “for the sake and safety of the driving public. It was a real relief how we could all get along and work together once they arrived.” When asked what he first sa , Christy recalls, “I could see a severely jackknifed semi over the guardrail.” Christy went on to de- scribe several other trucks and trailers, including two doubles, piled up against one another. He said tow crews and others not essential for medical treatment were held off about 200 yards down the freeway from the scene while Hazmat crews investigated reports that hazardous materials, initially thought to be a load of blasting caps, may have been present among the crashed semis. “They got Steve Ritch of S.R.E.C. there to check out the report of these blasting caps soaked in diesel,” he said. The hazardous materi- als turned out to be rifle (ammo) primers and the chemical involved was 600 gallons of hydrochloric acid. Said Christy, “Steve went in to inspect the manifesto Photo released to media by Sergi Karplyuk. sheets to determine the This photo of Kaleb Whitby went viral after he sur- risk.” vived being squashed inside his pickup between two The Hazmat Team even- semis. Whitby walked away with only an icepack tually declared no leaks in and two band-aids. loads. “We had an inch of diesel running down the freeway at our feet,” Christy said. “So even at that, it was pretty dangerous.” Eventually, the tow companies were allowed to approach and begin “pull- ing apart the wreckage.” Christy explained how OSP watched each part of the process to survey when wreckage was pulled apart, in order to reconstruct the accident. “It was a huge undertak- ing for ODOT and law enforcement—all the agen- Photo Courtesy of OSP. cies and first responders The drivers of this torn-apart semi suffered injuries, using all the training we’ve but survived the crash. had—to get it cleared in 24 hours.” residents trapped temporar- involved in a crash. The He said that several Ash ily in the vehicular carnage estimate of total vehicles at Grove employees and were Travis Birming- the scene either involved in other Baker County resi- ham, Chris Combs, Don a crash or blocked between dents had been blocked in O’Grady, William Chan- crashes is between 50 to 70 the middle of the accident, dler, Charles Carrey, and vehicles. some waiting six to seven Leroy Thompson, who Twelve patients were hours did sustain treated for injuries at the before the injuries. St. Alphonsus Hospital in median ODOT Baker City; six arrived by “In my 17-year was fully crews were ambulance and another six career, I’ve removed— also on the arrived by third party. never seen no easy scene. Three After their arrival to St. task—al- men worked Alphonsus in Baker City, anything like it.” lowing the night shift one patient was transferred —Donn Christy, them ac- just prior to to OHSU in Portland with Superior Towing cess out. the accident, serious injuries, one patient Christy’s their shifts was transferred to St. company is currently stor- ending at 4:30 a.m. Alphonsus in Boise, Idaho ing the salvaged cargo, Communications coordi- with serious injuries, and which over the course of nator, Tom Strandberg of two patients were trans- the coming week, will be ODOT said, “We certainly ferred to the Grande Ronde picked up and distributed will look at the information Hospital in La Grande for back to the companies that that is compiled from the treatment. own the cargo. crash debriefing. In talking Adding to the strain on “On a scale of one to with the maintenance folks first response personnel 10, this was a 9.5 on my right now it doesn’t sound and volunteers, several wreck-o-meter,” concluded like they’d do anything other accidents in the area Christy. specifically di ferent. occurred the same day. A While the tow companies Crews were out through semi carrying a load of on the scene continued the the area at 1-2 a.m. and lube oil crashed, blocking cleanup, news of the mega- they applied some sand the freeway seven miles crash spread to national as they went through that east of Pendleton. news outlets while photos area.” Another crash on High- and video clips of the Strandberg went on to way 7 below the dam sent scene went viral. stress what all ODOT one vehicle sliding onto its Then, of course, the fo- crew members know— top into the Powder River, cus turned toward learning magnesium chloride or slowing traffic between more about the victims. “deicer” is not effective Baker City and Sumpter. Possibly the most widely in all weather conditions, Yet another crash hap- seen photo was of Kaleb and therefore, not always pened about a mile up Whitby of Tri-Cities, applied. Highway 245 on Dooley Washington. Whitby told “Typically the policy Mountain, followed by one CNN that he ran into the on deicer,” said Strand- final crash for the day near back of a jackknifed semi, berg, “is if it’s heavy fog North Powder. which caused his Chevy they may not apply deicer At one point, Paizano’s Silverado to flip, then because it will actually delivered free bread sticks looked up just in time to draw moisture from the to Dispatch, and The Truck see the headlights of a fog and deposit it on the Corral donated 30 free second semi bearing down road. It overwhelms the hamburgers to responders on him. deicer, then it freezes, so who might otherwise have Whitby told CNN he we get more moisture on not taken the time to eat. closed his eyes and prayed. the road.” While the definitive Sergi Karplyuk, also on Westbound I-84 was cause of the mega-crash is the scene of the acci- opened around 3 p.m., but still under investigation, dent, asked permission of eastbound lanes weren’t fog and black ice are listed Whitby before taking the fully open until nearly 10 as contributing factors. now-viral snapshot. p.m. that night. Speed as a contribu- Once extracted from the According to OSP, tor to the pileup was still wreckage, Whitby required consolidation of informa- undetermined at the time only band-aids for his arm tion among troopers on this article went to print, and an ice pack for a swol- scene that approximately with the final OS report len eye. 26 vehicles or vehicle pending. Included among the local combinations were directly THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5 BCPD / BCNET make multiple meth arrests On January 19, 2015, beginning at 7:00 a.m., members of the Baker County Sheriff’s Office and Baker City P - lice Department executed two search warrants and served seven arrests warrants in and near Baker City. These war- rants were the culmination of a two-month investigation by members of the Baker County Narcotics Enforcement Team (BCNET). Search Warrant #1: Executed at 2860 Cedar Street. Arrested at that location for warrants, stemming from Grand Jury Indictments: Jodene Inez Layton (12/28/1962), 2860 Cedar Street, two counts Delivery of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) and one count of Possession of Controlled Substance (Methamphet- amine) Roger Ray Miller (02/03/1965), 2860 Cedar Street, one count Delivery of Controlled Substance (Metham- phetamine) and one count of Possession of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) Search Warrant #2: Executed at 42534 N. Cedar Road #1. Arrested at that location for warrants, stemming from Grand Jury Indictments: Danielle Christine Purkey (09/01/1980), 42534 N. Cedar Road #1, two counts Delivery of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) & 1 count of Possession of Controlled Substance (Metham- phetamine) Dennis Lee Page (06/17/1975), 42534 N. Cedar Road #1, one count Delivery of Controlled Substance (Meth- amphetamine) and one count of Possession of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) Additional Arrest Warrants served, stemming from Grand Jury Indictments: Heather Aimy Mae Winston (04/05/1992), 1209 Court Avenue (Served at that location), one count Delivery of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) Bryson Scott Buchanan (02/05/1991), 1209 Court Avenue (Served at 1945 8th Street), one count Delivery of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine), one count of Possession of Controlled Substance (Methamphet- amine) Arthur Michael Gentry (08/04/1982), 1440 13th Street (Served at 134 Bridge Street #106), two counts Delivery of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) and two counts of Possession of Controlled Substance (Metham- phetamine) Arrested based on Probable Cause: Kristin Rachelle Dejong (05/28/1991), 1440 13th Street (Served at 134 Bridge Street #106), one count De- livery of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) Then later the same day about 3:10 p.m., Baker City Police served another arrest warrant, stemming from a Grand Jury Indictment. Arrested was: Buddy Dean Otnes (11/26/1983), 1908 Chestnut Street (Served at 1768 Auburn Ave), two counts of Criminal Conspiracy to Deliver a Controlled Substance (Metham- phetamine) In addition to the Otnes arrest, Baker City Police also followed up on additional leads developed yesterday after the drug sweep, yielding two more arrests. They were: Laura Feign Osterkamp (01/12/1964), 2845 Hughes Lane #25 (Arrested at that location), one count of Crimi- nal Conspiracy to Deliver a Controlled Substance (Sched- ule II – Prescription Pills), one count of Possession of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) Mckenzie Jacob Sullivan (03/26/1993), 2845 Hughes Lane #25 (Cited and Released at that location), one count of Criminal Conspiracy to Deliver a Controlled Substance (Schedule II – Prescription Pills) As a result of the search warrant service at 2860 Cedar Street, two additional charges were added to: Jodene Inez Layton (12/28/1962), 2860 Cedar Street (Arrested at the Baker County Jail), one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, 1 count of Possession of Controlled Substance (Methodone) This investigation will be continuing, based on further information gained throughout this warrant service opera- tion. Additional arrests are expected. Community Bank celebrates 60 years On May 25, 2015, Community Bank (formerly Bank of Wallowa County) will celebrate its 60th anniver- sary. The bank is one of the 24 remaining independent banks in the State of Oregon (in 1982 that number was 88). Community Bank is now one of the last remaining independent banks operating in Northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington. Since 1991 Community Bank has expanded signifi- cantly—from two branches and thirteen employees to 14 full-service branches and over 130 employees. In 1991, Community Bank managed and protected $15 million for their customers. Today, that number exceeds $320 million. As a thank you to the local communities and custom- ers, Community Bank is conducting a year-long Silver Sweepstakes to celebrate their 60th Anniversary. Each month 60 ounces of silver bullion will be given away - a 10-oz. bar to six lucky winners. Drawings will be held on the last full business day of each month (at each branch) with the first drawing to be held January 30, 2015. With fourteen branches, that will be 14 names advanced to the prize drawings. A random drawing of six names will de- termine the lucky winners for the month. Enter up to once every business day at a local Community Bank branch. There is no purchase necessary and a full disclosure is available at your local Community Bank or online.