Update: 2-car crash in High Point, 2 people hurt, 1 rescued by Good Samaritan

(WSB photo, substituted for cameraphone photo that was originally published)
8:11 PM: Big Seattle Fire/Police response on the way to Sylvan Way/SW Morgan in High Point, for a reported two-car crash, with one car on fire, and people reported to be trapped in the other car. More to come.

8:22 PM: Two people are reported to be injured – one seriously. The scene is just east of Neighborhood House’s High Point Center at Sylvan/Lanham, on the westbound side of the road. The more-seriously hurt patient will be taken to the hospital by SFD medic unit, the other by private ambulance. Police are investigating the possibility of DUI.

8:38 PM: Eastbound lanes will be reopened soon, police are saying, while westbound will be closed a while. The crash involved a Honda Pilot and Subaru Forester (the latter is the one that caught fire, and is in the foreground of our top photo). At this point, the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is *not* being called out, which indicates they expect both people to survive. A 128 bus was having some trouble getting through the area a few minutes ago, so if you rely on that route, you might seem some delays.

9:34 PM: SPD just announced via emergency radio that Sylvan is open again, both ways.

10:08 PM: Just published to SFD’s Fire Line website, a summary identifying the Subaru’s driver as a 26-year-old man who was pulled, unconscious, from the burning vehicle by a Good Samaritan before fire crews arrived. He was “alert, oriented and conscious when medics transported him to Harborview Medical Center,” SFD reports. The driver of the Honda Pilot is described only as male; he’s the one who was taken to the hospital by private ambulance, indicating less-serious injuries.

20 Replies to "Update: 2-car crash in High Point, 2 people hurt, 1 rescued by Good Samaritan"

  • MMB October 19, 2014 (8:17 pm)

    Oh, good Lord. Sounds terrible. I hope it isn’t as bad as all that…please let them all be safe.

  • Andi October 19, 2014 (8:19 pm)

    Yikes. Sounds horrible, thoughts go out to the victims, hope people pull through this.

  • tim October 19, 2014 (8:22 pm)

    So sad that it’s likely a DUI per scanner of medics consulting Medic One Doc

  • ~HockeyWitch~ October 19, 2014 (8:34 pm)

    Heard all the sirens coming from all directions at Morgan and 35th. They all stopped shortly after they turned down through High Point. New it was pretty close by. Hope all involved will be ok and recover quickly. My thought go out to all injured.

  • JanS October 19, 2014 (8:39 pm)

    sounds like a terrible accident. I hope all recover quickly. I sure do wish that people would stop and think before they drive after drinking :(

  • trickycoolj October 19, 2014 (9:43 pm)

    Wow just got home. This is a block from my house. So thankful I stayed an hour longer at my friend’s house. The intersection of Morgan and Sylvan is very tricky to navigate on a regular basis under normal conditions. People fly down Sylvan and you can’t see around the median, add the cars parked to the very edge of Morgan and its a daily nightmare. Hope everyone recovers fully. So scary to see the clean up after being across town all day.

  • Philip October 19, 2014 (9:57 pm)

    I was the car directly in front of the Honda Pilot. It was terrifying to see the reality of the situation. The Subaru was coming at high speed down the opposite direction and came across the median. The speed was so intense that it scared me, so I sped up and swerved a bit because I knew it was coming to my side of the road. It was terrifying to see.

  • Sue October 19, 2014 (9:57 pm)

    OMG – looking at those cars, it’s a miracle people survived. Hope recovery is quick for those involved.

    • WSB October 19, 2014 (10:09 pm)

      Yup, just got that, adding whatever’s new …

  • m October 19, 2014 (10:21 pm)

    Incredible selfless act of bravery by the Good Samaritan. There are everyday heroes among us. Healing thoughts to the injured.

  • 12th man October 19, 2014 (10:23 pm)

    Wow what happened!

  • Andrew October 19, 2014 (10:38 pm)

    We were behind that Subaru with MT plates on 35th and were concerned with their erratic driving. As soon as we got home and heard the sirens, I had a feeling and walked over to confirm it was the same car. Philip, did you see a Red Jeep Cherokee traveling behind it or chasing it?

  • Lisa October 19, 2014 (11:00 pm)

    I was the driver behind the Honda Pilot. I saw the Subaru coming super fast and swerve so I slammed on my brakes. Saw the whole thing. So scary. Called 911 as soon as I was safe. Hats off to the person who pulled the man from the car.

  • Philip October 20, 2014 (8:48 am)

    @Andrew: I did see a car behind the Subaru but didn’t notice much aside from the impact. I turned around and parked in the bus zone on opposite side of street to ensure the authorities had me as a witness since he missed me by inches. That’s when the Subaru caught on fire.

    I want to take a minute here to commend the residents from the homes at the impact. A large number came out to help and as soon as the fire erupted, several ran to pull the driver out of the car. It took three or four people to do it but they refused to leave him in the car which was a true act of selflessness. Others were also ushering the driver of the other car out and to safety since no one knew if the Subaru was going to explode. These are my neighbors!

    • WSB October 20, 2014 (9:03 am)

      I have to offer kudos to the person who was trying to warn eastbound drivers away from the scene for a while. I was updating our site from our car on Lanham south of 35th (while our photographer was over gathering information) and could hear her shouting at approaching cars – police were all busy further down the block with the actual crash.

  • ecom designs October 22, 2014 (11:42 pm)

    It’s been 3 days. Has SPD determined the cause of the accident? Was the driver drunk? What is the condition of the people involved?

  • Thomas M. October 23, 2014 (11:43 am)

    Now 4 days. Nothing?

  • WSB October 23, 2014 (12:31 pm)

    Don’t know any of those things and not likely to be able to find out. It is difficult at best to get followup information on all but the most serious crash investigations (even those are tough) and I only have so many hours in the day/night (even working 18+ hours a day), so when injuries are not life-threatening, we have to move on. – TR

  • Hawks12 October 25, 2014 (6:09 pm)

    Does anyone know who the good Samaritan/s were?

  • Andrew November 6, 2014 (10:19 pm)

    Thanks for all your hard work Tracy to keep us informed.

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