DOWNED TREE CAUSES WRECK ON HIGHWAY 6 NEAR GALES CREEK

Shortly after 9:30 pm on Wednesday December 28th, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue (FGF&R) was dispatched to a reported incident of a tree and electrical wires down across Highway 6 at Milepost 42. While responding to the incident additional information was received that two vehicles had struck the tree. Crews arrived shortly thereafter and found a tree had fallen across the entire highway and energized electrical wires were on the ground. Firefighters found that one vehicle, with three occupants, had hit the tree and launched into the air approximately 7 feet and rested 75 feet away. A second vehicle also hit the tree and branches but was able to stop in a safely manner, where it had stopped was on top of live power lines. Due to this dangerous situation, the driver had to stay in the vehicle and a safety zone was established until PGE arrived on scene.


Approximately an hour after the incident originated, PGE crews deemed the scene to be safe and the driver was allowed to exit the vehicle. Firefighters assessed all occupants of both vehicles and no injuries were reported. Firefighters cleared the scene around 11:30pm and at that time ODOT crews were working on clearing the highway with an estimated time of 1-2 hours until it would re-open. Through the duration of the incident, crews experiences gusts of wind around 20-30 MPH. It is assumed the tree had fallen due to high winds that the area has experienced with the weather system passing through.


Forest Grove Fire & Rescue wants to remind drivers to use added precaution when you encounter adverse weather conditions. Debris can be blown into travel lanes and during dark conditions might not be seen on rural roads.


FGF&R was assisted on scene by Washington County Sheriffs Office, Oregon State Police, Oregon Department of Transportation and Portland General Electric.