A motorist was confirmed dead Sunday night after a BNSF Railway train struck a car on the tracks in east Vancouver.
Emergency responders were dispatched at about 9 p.m. to the 19500 block of Southeast Evergreen Highway near the Vancouver-Camas border.
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said an empty eastbound grain train, going 44 mph, had struck a small vehicle at a private crossing east of 164th Avenue. The crossing has automatic warning devices, he said — both flashers and gates.
The two people on the train reported that the car’s occupant appeared to be slumped over in the driver’s seat before the impact.
Although the area is an established quiet zone, Melonas said, the train crew used the whistle and the emergency brake.
First responders searched several minutes after they arrived, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian; the car had been pushed to the north of the tracks and down an embankment.
Emergency crews reported finding one dead person inside the vehicle, according to radio traffic. A medical examiner was called to the scene to investigate while other officials searched the area to make sure nobody had been thrown from the car.
The impact was reported as being south of state Highway 14 near the Columbia River. Evergreen Highway was shut down while crews responded.
Rail traffic was also shut down until 11:30 p.m., delaying four trains, Melonas said; that track typically sees more than 30 trains in a 24-hour period. Inspectors found that there was no track damage, and there was no derailment. They were still checking into the condition of the locomotive and train cars.
Neither of the train’s crew members was injured, Melonas said.
