A6
STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Crashes on the mountain
By ANDREW CUTLER,
DICK MASON, ERICK
PETERSON, ANTONIO
SIERRA, ALEX WITTWER
and PHIL WRIGHT
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — The
Hyatt family on Monday,
Feb. 21, was heading west on
Interstate 84, bound for their
home in Yelm, Washington,
when they became involved
in one of the biggest traffic
smash-ups in Eastern Oregon
in years.
Marjorie, a kindergarten
assistant, her husband, Car-
ter Hyatt, a vocational ther-
apist, and their son, Jacob,
a sophomore in high school,
were returning from a trip to
Utah, where they were a part
of their daughter’s engage-
ment, including picking out
her dress and ring.
“We had a wonderful
weekend,” Carter said.
On the way back in their
Nissan Pathfinder, they
stopped in Boise to spend the
night of Feb. 20 with Jacob’s
brother, then headed out the
morning of Feb. 21 for the
final leg of the trek home.
Marjorie was asleep,
Jacob was in the backseat
watching one of “The Lord of
the Rings” movies and Car-
ter was driving. He said they
were going to stop at the rest
area at Deadman Pass, near
milepost 229, when he saw
jackknifed semitrailers on the
road ahead.
“I kind of swerved,” he
recalled. “I was able to miss
a couple of cars and trucks.”
But he tapped the brakes,
he said, and lost control of the
car.
The front of their Nissan
smashed into the rear driv-
er’s side of an Amazon semi-
trailer. The collision tore
apart the front of the car, and
the engine ended up on the
asphalt.
But the Nissan’s safety
features worked well, Carter
said. The airbags, seatbelts
and crumple zones protected
the family.
“We’re all pretty much
fine,” Marjorie said.
The Hyatts were part of a
series of crashes that began
Carter Hyatt/Contributed Photo
Antonio Sierra/East Oregonian
Emergency crews respond to the scene of a mass crash involving dozens of vehicles Monday, Feb.
21, 2022, on Interstate 84 about 21 miles east of Pendleton.
at around noon near mile-
post 230 and involved as
many as 98 vehicles, accord-
ing to press releases from
the Oregon Department of
Transportation and Oregon
State Police. And while the
total number of injured was
unknown, OSP as of late
Feb. 21 had not reported any
fatalities in the pileup that
stretched for a mile.
Interstate 84 shuts down
The mass crash shut down
the westbound and eastbound
lanes of the freeway in Eastern
Oregon. Eastbound remained
closed Feb. 21 between Exit
216, 6 miles east of Pendleton,
and Exit 265 at La Grande,
while westbound was closed
to between Exit 374 at Ontario
and Exit 216.
Oregon State Police,
local law enforcement, fire
and medics from agencies
throughout Umatilla and
Union counties responded,
along with help from Walla
Walla County in Washing-
ton. Pendleton Fire Chief
Jim Critchley said the wrecks
stretched for a mile. The
Hyatts described the response
as impressive.
Responding officers were
notified of additional crashes
while they were arriving, and
then once on scene, officers
could hear crashes occur-
ring behind them, according
to a press release from the
OSP. The Hyatts heard those
crashes, too.
“Bam, bam, bam,” Car-
ter Hyatt said. “They just kept
hitting.”
Marjorie said they sounds
were unnerving. They stayed
in their vehicle, even without
heat, for protection.
Capt. Merle Laci with the
La Grande Fire Department
said two ambulances and one
rescue rig were on scene from
Union County, with crews
from Union and Island City
fire departments on standby.
The La Grande Fire Depart-
ment sent eight personnel to
the scene.
As of 3:35 p.m., rescue
vehicles and ambulances from
the La Grande Fire Depart-
ment had returned to the sta-
tion, according to Laci. La
Grande Fire Department
confirmed they had trans-
ported three individuals from
the scene to Grande Ronde
Hospital.
Nick Oatley, spokesper-
son with Umatilla County Fire
District No. 1, confirmed the
Hermiston-based fire depart-
ment also responded, but
he did not have specifics on
how many personnel were
on scene. Good Shepherd
Medical Center, Hermiston,
reported it did not receive any
crash victims.
Hospitals at the ready
Elaine LaRochelle, inci-
dent commander at Grande
Ronde Hospital, La Grande,
activated the hospital’s inci-
dent
command
system,
according to a press release
from Mardi Ford, public infor-
mation officer.
“We are preparing to sup-
port any patients sent our way
with emergency services and
medical care,” Ford said in
the release. “We do not have
any news on distribution of
patients to be sent our way.
However, we are prepared to
assist in this emergency. We
are cooperating fully with
all regional partners, includ-
ing our media contacts, to do
what we can to keep everyone
informed. Our primary mis-
sion, however, is to provide
emergency services and med-
ical care to patients in need.
Once we know more, we will
issue an update.”
Emily Smith, director
of communications for St.
Anthony Hospital, Pendleton,
reported that as of 3 p.m., the
hospital received six patients
from the crash.
“The patients’ statuses are
unknown at this time,” she
reported, “and no information
on ages etc. is available to the
media at this time.”
Smith also explained how
St. Anthony responds to these
kinds of crises.
“When we receive word
of an incident like this, the
hospital activates Code D, or
This Nissan Pathfinder belonging to the Hyatt family of Yelm,
Washington, crashed Monday, Feb. 21, 2022, into the back of this
Amazon trailer on Interstate 84 about 21 miles east of Pendleton.
The crash was part of a series of wrecks that stretched for a mile
on the westbound side. The Hyatts were unharmed in the crash.
disaster response,” according
to Smith. “Available staff (off-
duty) are called and asked to
come in based on current per-
sonnel needs as well as staffing
for the next shift. Patients are
seen in the Emergency Depart-
ment as well as other care areas
of the hospital as appropri-
ate for their level of injury. We
have an extensive disaster plan
that is drilled with local emer-
gency response teams to ensure
we are prepared for situations
like this when they arise.”
Pendleton Convention
Center provides respite
The Hyatts said emergency
personnel checked on them
often, and they appreciated
that. And many of the other
people in the crash helped
each other, they said, offering
water and making sure people
were OK.
“There were people, regular
people,” Marjorie Hyatt said.
“All that was really nice.”
When school buses arrived
to carry the Hyatts and so
many more off the mountain,
they said they had to cross the
median to the eastbound lanes.
Marjorie banged her knee on
the fence, but firefighters
were right there to help. And
when they got on the bus, she
said, the Oregon State Police
trooper who was the person to
check on them assisted them
onto the bus.
The buses took groups
to the Pendleton Conven-
tion Center, where its man-
ger, Pat Beard, said that while
the facility was holding events
that day, it opened rooms for
the people in the crash and
provided what hospitality it
could while they waited for
rides from family or friends or
made arrangements for other
accommodations.
The center also served
as something of a base of
operations for law enforce-
ment, Umatilla County Pub-
lic Health and more. Beard
praised the coordination he
witnessed between the differ-
ent groups.
The Hyatts were among the
last from the crash to still be at
the convention center that eve-
ning. Bags of chips and other
snacks lined the long tables of
the large room they were in.
A family member was on the
way to help get them home,
they said, probably around 7
that night.
The Nissan, as far as they
knew, still was at the site of
the crash. Carter said all their
luggage was in the car, so he
anticipated making a trip back
to gather their belongings.
The Hyatts said they had
never experienced anything
like this emergency, and they
did not want to be in another.
But their concerns were for
others.
“I hope everyone gets out,”
Marjorie said.
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