Westbound Roxbury is closed right now at 26th because of a crash involving a pedestrian and a vehicle. No other details yet, but we wanted to alert you to avoid the area. 4:24 PM UPDATE: It’s reopened. Police say the pedestrian was hit by a pickup truck; the injuries were not life-threatening, and the private ambulance you see in the photo took the victim to the hospital.

Thanks to everybody who called/e-mailed about this one – we’re checking out the scene where a semi-truck went off the road on southbound West Marginal Way, just north of the LaFarge plant, and into the greenbelt, taking out a pole along the way. Heavy police response; no evidence of a fire/aid callout on the 911 log; one lane is blocked in each direction (see the photo below) but traffic IS getting by, both ways.

(Scroll down for the latest – we’re still adding info and images)

ORIGINAL 8:32 AM REPORT: We’re on our way to a “heavy rescue” call where Admiral Way meets The Bridge – it’s a vehicle vs. bicyclist and Admiral is blocked in both directions, per the scanner. More as we get it. 8:37 AM: Adding a photo sent by Shauna Causey – the crew you see in the background is working to help the bicyclist, who was reportedly trapped under the vehicle. 8:52 AM: The bicyclist is out. We don’t know about their condition. This shot shows the rescuers and the raised vehicle (the patient is NOT in the shot):

WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand reports from the scene that an articulated bus got into trouble up the Admiral hill trying to turn around – it has been emptied and its passengers are now walking. (added 10:33 am, short clip showing them)

Again, stay away from Admiral north/west of The Bridge, since that’s where all this is unfolding. 9:04 AM: Briefing from authorities at the scene: The bicyclist, a man around 35-40, was coming down the Admiral hill, while the driver was going up – how the vehicle ended up over the bicyclist, is not yet clear. He’s been taken to Harborview Medical Center and was described as “relatively stable.” No word how long Admiral will be closed. 9:24 AM: They’re about to reopen an uphill lane – and the exit off the westbound bridge – but downhill will remain closed TFN; more investigators have just arrived. 9:32 AM: The northwest edge of the closure, by the way, is at the top of the hill at SW Olga (the pedestrian light). 10:19 AM: Heading back to the scene to check on the road. Meantime, some witnesses have posted in comments, including Susan, who writes:

I was ~6 cars behind the crash, here’s what I saw: I first noticed the bike because it had some type of bubble/windshield thing. I believe it was either in line with traffic or biking on the left side of the line of cars; I remember wondering if it was some type of small motorized vehicle because of the windscreen and its location in traffic. I saw the motorist turning left from Avalon and thought that the trajectory of car + bicycle/motorcycle thing didn’t look quite right. Then a car passed between me & the scene (in the opposite direction) blocking my view, and by the time it had passed the cyclist was under the car.

Rescuers had to cut up the bicycle as part of the extrication process – some of what was left can be seen in this photo:

ADDED 10:35 AM: Video of the earlier briefing from SFD Battalion Chief Phil Jose, who explained to us and other media at the scene how they got the bicyclist out, among other updates:

BOTTOM LINE (10:41 AM): To recap – a bicycle and car collided just before 8:30 am on Admiral Way by The Bridge. The bicyclist, a man described as 35-40, was trapped under the car; rescuers got him out, and he was described as “relatively stable” as he was rushed to the hospital. The car’s driver was not hurt. We will update Admiral’s traffic status shortly – en route back to see where things stand now. 11:22 AM: Admiral is still closed southbound/downhill from SW Olga to The Bridge; uphill, the outside lane remains open coming off The Bridge (etc.); investigators are still onscene. 11:40 AM: Also note: Route 56 is still rerouted; the detour from southbound Admiral atop the hill is putting a heavy load of traffic onto one-lane-each-way 35th SW north of Fauntleroy, so that is VERY slow going (we have just waited through about six lights to get the last few blocks to Fauntleroy. Also just got a call back from Harborview: The bicyclist is in serious condition, “headed to intensive care.” 12:58 PM: Admiral Way is now FULLY REOPENED, and the 56 is back to normal. 4:00 PM: We have published a separate followup with information from a comment regarding the bicyclist’s condition, plus SPD’s call for witnesses to get in touch with them – see that story here.

Thanks to Shane Marr for that photo of a toppled truck in the Delridge/Spokane/West Marginal SW area (also mentioned by @DAlbrightVideo via Twitter, and James via Facebook.). We’re checking on injuries/circumstances. Here’s another angle from WestSide Baby‘s Nancy Woodland:

12:46 PM: Helen Fitzpatrick of the Seattle Fire Department says nobody was hurt. The truck will have to be righted before it’s towed, so avoid that area of West Marginal TFN (map).

ORIGINAL 11:06 PM REPORT: Traffic is getting by but slowly and no tow truck is here yet, police and fire on scene. Looks like at least one other vehicle involved. 11:10 PM: Police say 1 person was taken to the hospital but wasn’t seriously hurt. Tow truck just arrived. 11:30 PM: Tow crew has righted the truck. Traffic is light enough that it’s getting around. Debris on road so will take a while to clear here. 1:56 AM: Substituted above for what was a cameraphone photo, you can watch a 3-minute video sequence which includes our initial look at the scene followed by a condensed version of the three-step process needed to turn the truck back over – onto its side, then rotated, then back onto its wheels.

Northbound West Marginal Way SW near Terminal 107 Park should be clear soon, now that a tow truck is moving that wrecked semi cab. Police tell us the semi hit a utility pole. Its driver has been taken to the hospital.

(cameraphone photo added 2:40 am)
ORIGINAL 2:13 AM REPORT: Thanks to the person who called to be sure we’d seen this on the 911 log – minutes after it appeared: Fire and police crews are working a “heavy rescue” call at 37th/Admiral (map), a crash with two vehicles involved, according to the scanner, with extrication(s) under way. We’re off to the scene to see what we can find out; Admiral is closed at that spot, so stay away.

2:34 AM UPDATE: Co-publisher Patrick is at the scene and describes it as a “huge” response of police and fire. Meantime, via the scanner here at HQ, we have just heard the first medical report on 2 victims – a 29-year-old man who got out of one of the vehicles on his own, injuries include a fracture. And authorities also have reported one person killed.

2:52 AM UPDATE: Police at the scene confirm that the total is 1 dead, 2 hurt, both going to the hospital. They tell us that it appears so far that the pickup truck was coming up the Admiral Way hill (northbound) while the SUV was going down the hill (southbound), at least one of the vehicles speeding, when the SUV crossed into the truck’s path, and they collided. Admiral is closed from Belvidere to Olga, and since this is a deadly crash, it’s likely to be closed for hours. (The last deadly crash in West Seattle was less than 2 weeks ago, a 1-car crash the night of March 9th on 16th SW.)

3:03 AM UPDATE: Authorities at the scene aren’t saying (and we’re not even certain if they yet know) anything about the gender or age of the person who was killed. Scanner information indicated the 2nd survivor, who like the 1st has been rushed to Harborview Medical Center, was a “middle-aged” man, whose injuries included fractures.

4 AM UPDATE: Adding our clip from the scene – same angle as the photo above, but gives you more context on exactly where it happened. This was shot from behind the yellow-tape line (the only other media photographer there while we were, from KING 5, was immediately to our left):

We’ll check back on Admiral’s status in a few hours; police will likely have an official writeup by then too.

9:40 AM UPDATE: The short item at SPDBlotter has two additional bits of information: The person who died was the SUV’s driver, while the two survivors were the driver and passenger in the pickup; also, police say alcohol may have been a factor as well as speed. No further information has been released about any of the three.

(Photo by David Rosen from SlickPix Photography, as rescuers worked to get one of the survivors out of the pickup)

(Photo by David Rosen)
Thanks to David Rosen for the tip: He says a rollover crash has SW Roxbury blocked westbound at 8th SW (map), right on the Highland Park/White Center line. He says it doesn’t look like anybody’s going to the hospital; the driver is OK and being questioned by police.

(cameraphone photo added 10:56 pm)
10:49 PM: 16th SW is closed between Webster and Myrtle (map) because of a crash – at the scene, we’re seeing one badly damaged car that hit a tree on the east side of 16th. The team that investigates serious crashes appears to be arriving, so it may be closed a while, and we’re seeing buses being re-routed. Police at the scene aren’t saying anything so far about the fate of the person/s who were in the car. 11:16 PM: SPD Media Unit’s Det. Mark Jamieson confirms it’s a fatal crash, but won’t have other details until the Traffic Collision Investigation Unit – which goes out to major crash scenes – finishes its work in the hours to come. 11:50 PM: Thanks by the way to Cheri for the tip on this, and also thanks to Katie for the research assist in looking this up – it appears this is the first deadly West Seattle crash since this one on The Bridge last August.

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, added 1:05 am)
ADDED 10:20 AM: There’s a short item on SPD Blotter this morning about the crash, but the only new information is that the driver was male, and was northbound on 16th SW before hitting a pole and then the tree. His ID would have to be made public by the county Medical Examiner, which isn’t likely to happen before mid-afternoon. 10:16 PM: According to the ME’s media-update line, the victim was 44-year-old Darryl A. Mason, who is in public databases as having a West Seattle address.

ORIGINAL 3:02 PM REPORT: On our way to check out another crash. Jill sent first word of this – “a major accident westbound in the bridge just above Admiral/Avalon exit. All lanes blocked by rescue vehicles…” 911 log confirms a “heavy rescue” response to that scene. Via Facebook, Mark describes what he saw: “Two cars, one car upside down, people inside.” 3:12 PM: We’re still working to get a viewpoint of the scene but we can tell you that cars are getting off The Bridge at the Admiral/Avalon exit, so it’s west of there. 3:34 PM: Thanks to commenters for updates, including this from CJZ: “We were driving about 100+ yards behind when the one vehicle suddenly spun and rolled violently. There just happened to be an American Med. Response rig to my right as we were driving across the WS Freeway and they were able to respond within seconds.” 4:13 PM: The traffic cam for the end of The Bridge at Fauntleroy shows traffic, which indicates the scene’s clear.

ORIGINAL 1:16 PM “AVALON BLOCKED AT GENESEE” REPORT : On the scene. Bicyclist took a bad spill. Being taken to hospital. Police say no car was involved. Road should reopen shortly. 1:39 PM: Added photo, taken looking northwestward on Avalon from Genesee corner. Going back to check that the road reopened as expected.

(Thanks to Rene for sending photos)
ORIGINAL 12:16 AM REPORT: Thanks to everyone who’s phoned/e-mailed/FB’d about this – police are investigating an apparent hit-run crash that we are told has damaged multiple vehicles along 35th near Holly (map). Avoid the area – Ella is telling us via Facebook that utility lines are down too. The truck that hit the other vehicles is still at the scene but its driver apparently fled and has not yet been tracked down. Ella says the driver “was wearing a black puffy jacket and looked to be about in his 30’s” – the truck you see above in Rene’s photo is the one that hit other vehicles, we’re told. Rene’s account: “Hit and run. We heard a loud crash and sparks flying from a moving truck. Truck hit four parked cars, smashed into the light pole right at the southbound bus stop. Truck driver fled the scene.” ADDED 12:51 AM: A photo from Al, showing one of the cars hit by the truck:

From Al’s note … “This time around 11:40 PM … a large cargo truck struck a number of parked cars heading north and then careened across the southbound lanes and went up the curb at Holly St. The driver took off. This picture is of my neighbor’s car that was parked two houses up and ended up on the sidewalk in front of my house. When is SDOT going to (do) something (anything!) about 35th?” We have blurred the license plate in the photo so as to not reveal personal info; however, one resident who tells us his car was “accordioned” by the truck is Sustainable West Seattle president Brian Allen. 2:29 AM: Brian tells the full story as he experienced it in the comment section, here, and shares a photo of his car from another angle:

He also reports that the crash scene hasn’t been fully cleared up – debris, and the truck, remain, while a city crew is dealing with the pole and lines. 4:19 AM: Just drove by the crash scene to see if it was cleared yet. The truck’s still there, with one police car next to it, blocking the outside southbound lane on 35th, just south of Holly. This photo from D. Groves shows the scene clearly (except for the big tag on the truck, which we blurred):

5:19 AM UPDATE: Scott C called a few minutes ago to say a tow truck has arrived at the scene; TV truck, too. 10:18 AM UPDATE: As Mike points out in comments, Q13 reports this morning that Croft Rentals says the truck was stolen (they’re in the 11200 block of 16th SW in White Center). “Whoever was driving rammed two trucks just to get it out of the lot,” reporter Brian Callanan (a West Seattleite) was told. “Threw the registration on the ground.”

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, substituted 6:46 pm for photo that was here since 6:11 pm)
ORIGINAL 6 PM REPORT: Big response for a “heavy rescue” at 48th/Dakota (map). Word from Christopher Boffoli, who’s just gotten to the scene, is that a vehicle’s gone over an embankment and the driver may have to be extricated (which is what “heavy rescue” usually means). (Thanks to Sheri for early word of this.) 6:04 PM: Scanner says one person’s been extricated and will go to the hospital via Medic (unit) 32. Many of the emergency units have been canceled. 6:19 PM: The rest of the emergency units have been cleared to leave. From Katie, who’s been to the scene, the description of the “embankment” is, “steep embankment into someone’s back yard. Sidewalk, then steep drop off into yard and from alley.” Katie also sent this photo:

At the scene, a tow crew’s getting ready to bring the car up the slope. [Added 6:55 pm – this shot from Christopher shows the perspective from the street – you can see how low the aforementioned house sits]

6:28 PM: The car’s up and the area’s open to traffic again. 6:42 PM: Side note – As Denise reminds us via Facebook, this area also had a major crash response a week and a half ago, on the day when West Seattle had 4 notable crashes in the span of 90 minutes (here’s our story from that afternoon). No word so far exactly what led to tonight’s crash, nor do we know the condition of the person taken to the hospital. 7:20 PM: Summary from Christopher, who was at the scene within minutes – this is what he learned from authorities and witnesses:

Single male driver came down Dakota at a high rate of speed. Struck a stationary vehicle. Neighbors heard the crash and ran out to help. One of them happened to be a nurse at HMC. The man was unconscious but the car was still running and in gear. They banged on the window to wake him but he was unresponsive. The car ended up rolling backward across the street and went down a steep embankment. Fire crews tore the roof off the car to extract the still unconscious man who is being transported to HMC.