Rush hour red-light-runner halts McLoughlin Blvd. traffic

By David F. Ashton

The Bee, Jul 7, 2010

David F. Ashton / THE BEE

After removing the driver from the rolled truck, at Holgate and McLoughlin, firefighters work to free the passenger.

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The commuter drive home on S.E. McLoughlin Boulevard came to a standstill on Monday, June 21 when the southbound lanes at Holgate were blocked by a Ford 4x4 Sport which had crashed, and rolled onto its top.

“There was this big crash,” said witness Manny Gutierrez, who was waiting at the bus stop at S.E. Holgate Boulevard. “The pickup truck hit a white car, and went upside down in the middle of the road. I thought someone was going to be dead.”

Officers at the scene said that the truck did appear to have glanced off the front driver’s side of a white Saturn, which flipped it.

Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) Engine 20 from Westmoreland was first on the scene, and pulled out hoses in case the rolled vehicle caught fire. Traffic backed up so quickly, a police car was sent to block the off ramp from the Ross Island Bridge onto southbound S.E. McLoughlin Boulevard.

Moments later, the crew from PF&R Truck 25 in Woodstock arrived, found victims trapped in the upended truck, and rushed to grab their “Holmatro Self Contained Rescue Tool”. “It’s lighter, faster set-up, and more powerful than the ‘Jaws of Life’ we once used,” observed the Bureau’s about-to-retire spokesman, Lt. Allen Oswalt.

They opened the truck’s cab, and started the delicate process of removing the injured occupants. “Firefighters extracted the patient in pick-up – a 46 year old female who had minor injuries, and was conscious and alert,” Oswalt said. “She was transported to OHSU. The male passenger was not injured and not transported.”

All southbound McLoughlin Boulevard traffic was diverted east on S.E. Holgate Boulevard – but it was narrowed to one lane, the other lane blocked by the disabled Saturn. Firefighters worked with what appeared to be an injured passenger in that car, carefully extracting the individual before transport to a hospital by American Medical Response.

“The driver of the vehicle that rolled over was cited for running a red light,” confirmed Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Detective Mary Wheat.