A teenage driver was killed in a single-vehicle crash Monday morning on an icy rural road west of Yacolt.
Firefighters with Clark County Fire District 10 and Clark County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched about 9 a.m. to the intersection of Northeast Gabriel and Kelly roads for a report of a rollover crash.
The driver lost control of their Dodge pickup on Northeast Kelly Road, about a quarter-mile from Gabriel Road. The pickup crossed the center line, struck a tree and rolled, fire Chief Sam Arola said.
“There was a lot of black ice” on the roads in the area, Arola said. “It’s all melted now.”
The truck was upside down and off the road when responders arrived, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. Witnesses told deputies they saw the pickup “fishtailing” on ice before crashing.
Northeast Kelly Road was closed for several hours while deputies investigated.
The sheriff’s office identified the driver as a 17-year-old male. His family has been notified of his death and asked that his name not be made public at this time.
The fire department responded to a similar but non-fatal crash about an hour before being dispatched to Kelly Road.
Fire District 10 firefighters assisted Clark County Fire District 13 responders who were called out to Northeast 231st Avenue and Worthington Road. A vehicle drove off the roadway and collided with a power pole, Arola said. The driver walked away uninjured.
The sheriff’s office urged drivers to use extreme caution on the county’s roads this week as below-freezing temperatures are forecasted through at least Friday.
