Virginia man dies in Baker Creek collision
By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer
An Alexandria, Va., man was killed last
Wednesday about 3:40 p.m. when the car his wife was driving went out of
control on a bridge and collided with another vehicle just north of Baker
Creek on Highway 75.
Robert James Stone, 38, was dead at the
scene, and his wife, Janice, 40, suffered massive chest injuries and was
flown to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.
Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling said
they were driving a 2001 Subaru Legacy station wagon.
The other driver, Tracy Woolley, 34, of
Stanley, suffered a leg and knee injury and was transported to St. Luke’s
Wood River Medical Center in Ketchum. Woolley was driving a 2001
Mitsubishi Montero.
Femling said the Stones were northbound on
Highway 75 and Woolley was southbound. When the Stones reached the bridge,
the Subaru went out of control, struck the bridge railing and turned into
the oncoming Montero.
The Montero struck the Subaru on the
passenger side behind the back door. This forced the Subaru over the
railing and off the road.
No citations have been issued, but the
accident is under investigation.
***
Two accidents on Highway 75 between Hailey
and Ketchum made the morning commute last Wednesday longer than usual.
At 9:02 a.m., emergency vehicles were
called to the intersection of East Fork Road and Highway 75.
And at 9:09 a.m., emergency vehicles were
called to an accident on Highway 75 just south of Zinc Spur Road.
In the first accident, Jose Vargus, 32, was
driving a 1993 Mercury Tracer southbound with two passengers—Tamara
Riggen, 34, and Fernandez Hurtado, 29. All three reside at the Chalet
Trailer Park.
Just before coming to the East Fork
intersection, the Tracer went out of control and spun into the northbound
lane into a 1996 Land Rover driven by Glynis Palazuelos, 44, of Hailey,
Femling said.
Everyone but Palazuelos was transported to
St. Luke’s and then released.
Femling said the accident is still under
investigation.
The second accident, just south of Zinc
Spur Road, involved a 1989 Lincoln Continental driven by Bertha Reyes, 47,
of Bellevue, and a 1999 Ford Escort driven by Nancy Salinas, 22, of
Bellevue. Salinas had a passenger, Maria Salinas, 41, of Bellevue.
Reyes was southbound and told a sheriff’s
deputy that when she saw the flashing lights of emergency vehicles, she
attempted to move to the shoulder of the road. The emergency vehicles were
on their way to the accident at the East Fork intersection.
While trying to move off the highway, Reyes
went into a slide into the northbound lane, hitting the Escort.
Femling said all three were transported to
St. Luke’s and released. The accident is still under investigation.
***
Patrick Condon, 31, of Stanley was injured
Saturday in a single-car accident on the north side of Galena Summit when
his 1987 Toyota pickup went out of control and jumped the guard rail.
Condon told sheriff’s deputies the
accident happened at about 9:45 a.m., but it wasn’t reported until 1:25
p.m.
Femling said Condon reported he was driving
north on Highway 75, rounded a curve, lost control and hit the guard rail.
He said he didn’t remember anything until
he awoke 20 feet from his truck. He said he waved down some cross-country
skiers who got him to the highway.
Femling said his investigation shows, so
far, that Condon lost control about milepost 158.7, jumped the guard rail,
flew 118 feet, hit, rolled twice, and came to rest 150 feet below the
highway.
Femling said that after the skiers got
Condon to the highway, they flagged down a motorist who called the
accident into Blaine County dispatch. The motorist then drove Condon down
the south side of the summit to meet up with an ambulance that took him to
St. Luke’s.
The accident is still under investigation.
