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.