2 trapped in their vehicles, 1 flown by Life Flight after head-on collision near Fredonia

MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. – A woman was taken to the hospital by Life Flight and a man was transported to the hospital by ambulance Saturday night following a head-on collision in Mohave County, Arizona, between Colorado City and Fredonia. The man and woman each had to be extricated from their vehicles.

Head-on collision on state Route 389, Mohave County, Arizona, Nov. 16, 2015 | Photo by Cami Cox Jim, St. George News
Head-on collision on state Route 389, Mohave County, Arizona, Nov. 16, 2015 | Photo by Cami Cox Jim, St. George News

“When I arrived on scene, I had two patients that were trapped inside,” Fredonia Volunteer Fire Chief Dustin Riddle said. “We had to extricate both of them.”

Reports of the accident, which took place at mile marker 24 on state Route 389, were received just before 6:30 p.m. The crash involved a maroon passenger car and a red passenger car, both of which were extensively damaged and had to be removed from the scene by tow truck.

“It does look like, just by the marks, one veered off from the one side of the lane and had a head-on collision,” Riddle said.

The drivers of the vehicles, a man and a woman, were the only occupants of their cars. Riddle said the man was traveling westbound and the woman was eastbound when the collision occurred.

Responders had to cut the drivers out of their vehicles before they could be transported to the hospital.

A Life Flight helicopter was flown in from Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George and flew the woman to DRMC. The man was transported to DRMC by ambulance. Riddle declined to comment on the condition or injuries of either driver.

Head-on collision on state Route 389, Mohave County, Arizona, Nov. 16, 2015 | Photo by Cami Cox Jim, St. George News
Head-on collision on state Route 389, Mohave County, Arizona, Nov. 16, 2015 | Photo by Cami Cox Jim, St. George News

“One is a local person,” he said, “and I’m not sure about the other individual. I don’t know where the other individual was from.”

The highway was shut down in both directions when responders first arrived at the scene. The westbound travel lane was eventually reopened to traffic, but the eastbound lane remained closed for a longer period of time while responders attended to the crash.

“Just for the public,” Riddle said, “when you come up on accidents like this, please slow down. That was one of our biggest issues, just getting traffic under control. Our focus should be more on the victims and the car, but when we’ve got cars going past us at a high rate of speed, we’re No. 1 – to take care of our life first, because we want to go home. We want to educate the public out there: If you see lights and emergency vehicles, slow down.”

The cause of the crash and contributing factors are being investigated by the Arizona Department of Public Safety as this report is published.

The names of those involved in the accident and information regarding whether any citations will be issued in connection with the crash are not available as of publication time.

Head-on collision on state Route 389, Mohave County, Arizona, Nov. 16, 2015 | Photo by Cami Cox Jim, St. George News
Head-on collision on state Route 389, Mohave County, Arizona, Nov. 16, 2015 | Photo by Cami Cox Jim, St. George News

The Fredonia Fire Department; emergency medical service responders from Kane County, Utah; Arizona DPS; and responders from Hildale/Colorado City responded to the accident.

“I’m just very proud of the units that responded and very, very glad everything worked out OK,” Riddle said, “and hope for the best for the patients.”

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

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4 Comments

  • mesaman November 15, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    Great photo coverage of this horrible collision. Not much protection in one of those infant cars from the orient, is there?

    • .... November 15, 2015 at 9:31 pm

      Not much protection from Mormon pedophiles for those kids is there ?

    • chrisboortz November 16, 2015 at 9:03 am

      That “infant car from the orient” contained the pastor of our church, a wonderful woman who deserves better than your snarky comment.

      In addition, that car probably saved her life because of its safety features and design, which prevented the engine block from ending up in her lap. Although it’s hard to believe from looking at the photos, she suffered only broken ribs, a punctured lung and bruising. That car did exactly what it was supposed to do, which is to protect its occupant.

      The person in the gas-guzzling American car, on the other hand, was driving under the influence and in going westbound in the eastbound lane.

      The issue here is not the type of car our pastor was driving, but rather that another unthinking, selfish person got behind the wheel and drove when they shouldn’t have.

  • .... November 16, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    Seems like the Prophet mesaman should learn more about them orient built cars eh. ? LOL !

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