Grants Towing prepares to disengage one of four vehicles mashed when a motorist cut off other cars to pull over for a trooper stopping her for speeding. / Courtesy photo by Laurie Thorson
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 71-year-old Shelton woman was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and two other occupants of the motor home she was traveling in were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital after a wreck on Interstate 5 in Chehalis today, one of four collisions in the same stretch all during about a 30-minute time frame, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Patricia J. Rodgers, 71, was a passenger in a northbound 1999 Freightliner motor home that struck the rear of a 2012 Kenworth semi near milepost 78, according to the state patrol. It happened just before 11 a.m. when the semi truck changed lanes, according to the patrol.
About 20 minutes earlier, and two miles to the north, a 49-year-old Camas woman caused a four-vehicle wreck when a trooper tried to pull her over and she crossed all lanes of traffic and stopped on the left shoulder, according to troopers. No injuries were reported there, but a Chevrolet Silverado and a Mercedes C350 were totaled, the investigating trooper reported.
The only Lewis County driver in that wreck was Kristen M. Klein, 53, of Chehalis, who reportedly escaped without damage to herself or her Audi.
Klein was among the three vehicles that stopped to avoid the Camas woman and then a semi truck coming up from behind struck them, according to the patrol.
Trooper Will Finn said as this was going on, a southbound vehicle at milepost 83 in Centralia ran into a construction barrel; and then a box van and a dump truck collided near Centralia’s Mellen Street interchange.
All lanes were opened by about 1:20 p.m., according to the state Department of Transportation.
The driver of the motor home, Donald E. Rodgers, 66, and a passenger, 18-year-old Debra A. Carter of Lacey, were transported to Providence Centralia Hospital with unspecified injuries.
The motor home was carrying about a half dozen show dogs, and a whippet that was not inside a kennel escaped onto the roadway and is missing, according to Finn.
The cause of that collision remains under investigation.
Steeler, the missing whippet. / Courtesy photo
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter