One Person Dead, Two In Critical Condition After Interstate 5 Crash in Lakewood This Morning

West Pierce Fire & Rescue units responded to a fatal collision in the early morning hours of Aug. 15, after a large moving truck reared a mini-van stopped in the middle lane of Interstate 5.

Two patients in the front seats of the van were transported in critical condition to a local area hospital. The van’s backseat passenger— a 24-year-old Lacey woman—was pronounced dead at the scene. This was a high-speed mechanism of injury which required crews to use extrication tools to obtain access and care for the patients. The driver of the truck was examined and transported to an area hospital for neck injuries. 

The impact of the truck to the mini-van was such that its front bumper was forward of the rear wheels. The crumpled metal of the van trapped the patients inside the car for 15 minutes until crews could cut them out. Paramedics from two West Pierce Fire & Rescue medic units transported the two patients, both with multiple traumatic injuries, an AMR ambulance transported the driver of the truck. 

Crews at scene found two of the van occupants without seat belts, and specifics of the crash are under investigation by the Washington State Patrol. Washington State Department of Transportation closed three lanes of North bound Interstate 5 at State Route 512 to afford a safety margin for emergency crews and the ensuing investigation.