By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Two young men escaped serious injury when their car ran off the road and down an approximately 25-foot embankment into a small creek yesterday afternoon in Toledo, according to Lewis County Fire District 2.
Fire Chief Grant Wiltbank said one of the pair wasn’t able to walk so firefighters, with the help of several bystanders, used ropes and lifted him up on a stretcher.
It happened off state Route 505 near the Toledo Salmon Creek Road, less than a mile east of town, Wiltbank said.
The Volkswagen landed on its side and fortunately there was only about six-inches of water in the creek bed, according to responders.
Both were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be evaluated, Wiltbank said.
The chief said there was a fatal accident a little more than a year ago there in the exact same spot.
One of his firefighters who has lived in the area his entire life told the chief he can think of 15 and maybe even 20 wrecks in the same place over the years, Wiltbank said.
The water there can sometimes be as deep as three to four feet, according to the chief.
“So it looks like this road, it probably needs a guard rail,” he said.
Just Sunday, he was flagged down by a bicyclist there who alerted him to a car at the bottom of the ravine, he said. It’s occupant had apparently gotten out on their own after an accident the night before, the chief said.
[1]A car discovered Sunday afternoon, unoccupied, off state Route 505 near the Toledo Salmon Creek Road / Courtesy photo by Grant Wiltbank