Another tragedy occurs on Highway 20: Two people are killed in an accident near Philomath

Two people were killed in an accident on Highway 20 in Lilly Hill, about 7 miles west of Philomath, Tuesday afternoon, the Philomath Fire Department reported.

The names of those killed in the crash will not be released by authorities until families have been notified.

Emergency services were dispatched to the scene at 3:35 p.m. and when they arrived they found two badly damaged vehicles on opposite sides of the road – one of which had caught fire.

A female driver, who was the only passenger in a Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid, was pulled from the vehicle by bystanders, said Deputy Fire Chief Rich Saalsaa, who also serves as the district's public information officer.

“The patient was found lifeless by Chief (Chancy) Ferguson and was pronounced dead at the scene,” Saalsaa reported. “The vehicle was smoldering and was initially extinguished by passersby with a fire extinguisher.”

Saalsaa said he then used a water extinguisher to make sure the vehicle was out.

The second vehicle, a Toyota Highlander, had a female driver trapped in the wreckage with life-threatening injuries. Saalsaa said the woman's two children, a four-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy, were rescued by passersby.

Blodgett-Summit Rural Fire Department responded to the scene with several firefighters and cared for the children. Fire Chief Dave Feinberg assisted Philomath fire crews in extricating the driver, Saalsaa said.

A LifeFlight helicopter was dispatched to the scene along with two Corvallis Fire rescue vehicles and Mike Kissell, the department's emergency services division chief. Oregon Department of Forestry personnel were on site to help set up a landing zone for the helicopter. The ODF was originally dispatched because the car fire may have occurred near the forest.

“During the rescue, the driver succumbed to her injuries,” Saalsaa reported. “LifeFlight was canceled. Corvallis units transported the children to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center with minor injuries.”

Saalsaa said the children's lives were saved by their car seats. There were also two dogs in the vehicle – one died at the scene and the other, a black Labrador, ran away.

“The PFR steering crew assisted the police in recovering the driver's body. This took over an hour – that's how bad the damage was to the vehicle in which the victim was trapped,” said Saalsaa. “In all the years I have been involved in accidents, this was the most difficult technical recovery I have ever experienced.”

During the operation and subsequent investigation, Highway 20 was closed for approximately three hours.

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