The Tillamook and Washington County lines at the Coast Range summit on Highway 6 on January 27, 2022. Photo: Chas Hundley
A Washington County Sheriff’s Office vehicle was struck by another vehicle Thursday evening while a deputy was responding to a separate crash near the summit of the Oregon Coast Range on Highway 6.
According to Washington County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deputy Brian van Kleef, the deputy’s parked vehicle was struck while responding to a separate, earlier crash near mile post 33.
“[The] deputy does not have serious injuries,” van Kleef said in a social media message and in an email to this publication.
According to the Oregon Department of Transportation’s tripcheck.com, all lanes were blocked near the county line between Tillamook and Washington Counties.
One patient from the crash the deputy was responding to was transported to a hospital by Metro West Ambulance, according to van Kleef.
The Oregon State Police are investigating the crash.
The crash comes just two days after a bill to require that ODOT study and give repair recommendations for Highway 6 was unveiled by State Rep. Suzanne Weber, and one day after the Oregon Department of Transportation announced new safety signs had been installed on Highway 6, including in the area of both of Thursday evening’s crashes.
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.