The junction of Highways 6 and 8 in Gales Creek on February 24, 2021. Photo: Chas Hundley
Two people are the latest killed in a crash on the Wilson River Highway stretching from Banks to Tillamook after a collision on Saturday.
The two-vehicle crash was located in Tillamook County near mile marker 30, about three miles west of the Coast Range Summit.
According to the Oregon State Police (OSP), emergency personnel and police responded to the crash just after 1 p.m. Saturday, July 31.
The preliminary investigation conducted by OSP showed that Gary Thornock, 50, of Provo, Utah was driving a Ford F350 eastbound on Highway 6 when Thornock crossed into the westbound lane and struck a GMC Sierra pickup driven by Jason Pierce, 43, of Fairview. Inside the GMC were three passengers; an adult and two minors. In the Ford, three youths were passengers.
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Pierce and one of the youths were killed in what the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office described as a “head-on” collision.
The adult passenger and other youth were transported to Portland-area hospitals with serious injuries.
Thornock and two passengers were not transported for injuries from the area of the crash; one passenger was.
In addition to OSP, the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office, Tillamook Fire & Rescue, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, Banks Fire District, and the Oregon Department of Transportation aided at the scene.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
