Teenage Girls Injured in Head On Crash Near Canby

Two Vehicle Head On Crash Sends Two Teenagers to Area Trauma Hospitals At this point, police do not suspect drugs or alcohol as a contributing factor to the crash.

Photos by Troy Buzalsky/Canby

(CANBY, Ore.) - One of the only things a Canby Fire crew knew while enroute to a head-on crash this morning, was that there were two injured victims, and one person who was trapped inside one of the crashed vehicle could be heard screaming.

That has to be one of the more alarming aspects of the life of firefighters in this nation; they always have to brace themselves for the saddest and most tragic human related events.

The call for this crash near the intersection of South Carus Road and Penman Road which is in rural Canby, came in at 10:30 AM.

Canby Fire Division Chief Troy Buzalsky, says that when firefighters arrived, they found a two car head-on collision with one injured victim already out of the vehicle and another still trapped inside.

"After a quick triage of the injuries, Captain/Paramedic Val Codino ordered both Lifeflight helicopters; Dietz Airpark, which is a small private airstrip on S Township Road, was identified as the landing zone."

The passenger according to Buzalsky, was a 16-year old girl. She had reportedly crawled from her seat, up over and out of the small compact vehicle, while the driver remained trapped inside and unable to free herself.

Buzalsky says firefighters used the "Jaws of Life," to cut, push and pull the twisted metal from around the 17-year old driver before they could free her from the vehicle.

"Firefighters also pulled charged hose lines as a precaution, as they were working in a slick of motor and transmission oil, fortunately, no gasoline spilled from either of the vehicles. Motor oil and transmission oil are not nearly as easily ignitable as gasoline, but still pose a fire and environmental hazard."

The adult male driver of the other vehicle involved was not injured. We have a call in to the Clackamas Sheriff's Office to learn what this man's name is and where the girls involved in the crash are from.

Buzalsky says both crash victims were transported to OHSU by the Lifeflight Network. This is frequently the best and fastest method of delivering trauma patients.

The patient who had been trapped inside the automobile and had to be extricated, was moved into the landing zone and airlifted by 11:16 AM.

Buzalsky says that was only 45 minutes after the initial dispatch.

"Considering the response time, the extrication time, the fact that she was the second patient taken to the landing zone, and the fact that the second Lifeflight comes from Hillsboro, 45 minutes is nothing short of remarkable," stated Captain Val Codino, who lead the on scene firefighters and paramedics.

The names of the injured parties cannot be released by firefighters as part of HIPPA laws, Buzalsky says. At this point the Clackamas Sheriff's Office is not able to release the names either.

Both patients who were transported to area trauma centers were considered to have non life-threatening injuries.

The Clackamas County Sheriffs Office crash investigation is continuing. Carus Road was closed for more than an hour for this incident, a spokesman from the sheriff's office told Salem-News.com, but it was not necessary to bring in ODOT crews to control traffic.