UPDATE: Motorcyclist killed on Washougal River Road

A motorcyclist was killed about 4:20 p.m. Friday in a motorcycle crash on Washougal River Road.

Initial reports were that the accident happened about six miles north of Washougal and involved a single motorcycle.

The driver, reportedly a man, died at the scene.

The location of the call was given as 37200 Washougal River Road, approximately at Milepost 6.

“According to witnesses, the motorcycle was westbound on NE Washougal River Road when it left the roadway and struck a telephone pole. Upon arrival, it was determined the motorcyclist had died,” sheriff’s deputies said in a bulletin Friday night.

Sgt. Bill Roberts with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said about 6:20 p.m. Friday that the rider’s name wasn’t being released until his family members are notified.

It is at least the fourth motorcycle accident involving serious injuries reported in Clark County since Wednesday night.

Thursday evening, rider Lewis Hoeflein, 56, of Battle Ground was critically injured in a collision with a car in the 10400 block of Northeast 199th Street, in the Meadow Glade area north of Brush Prairie. He was flown to a hospital by Life Flight helicopter.

He was listed in critical condition at Southwest Washington Medical Center on Friday.

Hoeflein wore a helmet, but suffered multiple life-threatening injuries in the 6 p.m. crash, said Battalion Chief Brett Graham with Clark County Fire & Rescue.

The driver of the car, a man in his 20s, suffered what appeared to be minor injuries and was taken to a hospital by AMR Northwest ambulance paramedics, Graham said.

It appeared that one vehicle had been westbound and the other eastbound, but how they collided is under investigation by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Graham said.

“All the bikes are coming out,” Sgt. Roberts said Friday evening. “It’s a time when people are taking them out of the garage and people aren’t used to seeing them.”

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.