JACKSON, Wyo. — A Pontiac Grand Am and a box truck collided last evening June 16, in the Snake River Canyon just before 5 p.m. Traffic was snarled for over two hours as Alpine Fire/EMS worked to extract the seriously injured driver from the car.
The accident occurred just past mile marker 124 near the lunch counter rapid. According to the Alpine EMS Chief Phil Jorgensen, the driver of the Pontiac came around the corner too fast, colliding with a Grand Teton Brewing box truck.
“He went under the box of the truck, which crushed down the A post, keeping him inside the car, and hit the back axel of the truck,” Jorgensen said. The roof and the dashboard were crushed onto the driver on impact.
“The drivers’ side door was so mangled we had to cut the passenger door to get to the patient,” Jorgensen said.
First responders used the jaws of life to dislodge the back door to access the patient and begin medical treatment. The roof and dashboard were also removed to extract the driver from the car. Webbing was placed around the driver to remove him from the vehicle. He was immediately placed on a backboard and transported to the landing zone. He was life-flighted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls.
According to Jorgensen, the dashboard crushed the driver’s legs, fracturing his tibia and fibula on both legs. Both of his ankles were broken and his left arm was broken.
The driver of the box truck walked away with a few scrapes.
“Everyone needs to remember that that canyon is going to be very busy. Everyone needs to be alert and slow down. I’m pretty sure the driver wasn’t wearing a seatbelt,” Jorgensen said.
