NORTH LAKEPORT — Two drivers were injured in a fiery crash in North Lakeport early Friday morning that resulted from ice on the roadway, according to California Highway Patrol officer Craig Van Housen.
Firefighters had to pry open the driver”s side door of Upper Lake resident Sherrie Stanley”s 1988 Toyota truck to get her out after the crash, which caused Lakeport resident Glenn Greer Jr.”s 2002 Ford truck to catch fire. Northbound traffic was blocked for approximately 20 minutes on Highway 29 at Park Way, where the accident occurred, while firefighters doused the flames.
“He and his family were able to get out before the pickup caught fire,” Van Housen said.
Stanley was driving south on Highway 29 just after 7 a.m. when she lost control of her truck, according to Van Housen, who was one of three CHP officers to respond. The Toyota slid across four lanes of traffic and a median divider full of mud before her driver”s side door hit the left front of Greer”s truck in the far northbound lane.
“The pickup continued off onto the shoulder a little bit ? she was trapped inside for a while,” Van Housen said.
One of two Lakeport Fire Protection District ambulances that responded, along with two engines, took Stanley to Sutter Lakeside Hospital with pain in her left side and a large laceration on her left arm. Van Housen said Greer went with a friend to Sutter Lakeside Hospital with what was believed to be a broken left wrist, pending an X-ray examination.
Greer”s three passengers were unharmed, according to Van Housen. They included a woman in the front seat and two children, ages one and three, in the child safety seats in the truck”s back seats.
“It”s a good thing the kids were in child restraint seats ? that”s what they”re for,” Van Housen said.
Van Housen said neither alcohol nor drugs were factors, but speed was, considering the fact that the road was icy. He said Stanley was driving between 60 and 65 miles per hour, the legal limit for the stretch of Highway 29 on which she was traveling.
Cold, wet and snowy conditions warrant caution, he said. Drivers are urged to slow down and to be prepared to adjust their speed for current weather and road conditions.
Snow is expected throughout the weekend at elevations above 2,000 feet, according to the National Weather Service, and was predicted at lower elevations for Friday night. Rain and cold weather is expected throughout the county at least through Monday.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
