One person was killed in a crash on Interstate 5 in Hazel Dell on Monday morning. Southbound traffic was snarled for hours.
The fatal collision occurred shortly before 10 a.m. According to the Washington State Patrol, traffic had slowed on Interstate 5 southbound at Northeast 99th Street due to an earlier crash at Northeast 78th Street.
Mathew P. Miller, 39, of Woodland, was southbound in the right lane in a 1997 Ford F-150 pickup and did not stop for traffic, according to a WSP statement released Monday afternoon. His pickup hit a 2012 Acura RDX compact SUV driven by Judith M. Cherryhomes, 64, of Vancouver.
The Acura was pushed into a 2020 Subaru Outback station wagon, driven by Joseph Evens, 73, of Vancouver.
Cherryhomes was killed in the crash.
Evens and the passenger in the Subaru, Sharon Evens, 71, also of Vancouver, were transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center for evaluation and treatment of injuries.
Miller was not injured.
All four were wearing seatbelts.
WSP said driver inattention caused the crash.
Initially all lanes on I-5 south were closed. Later, southbound traffic was routed onto Interstate 205 south at the merge in Salmon Creek, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. The traffic backup grew to 3 miles by noon, and one lane was reopened about 12:30 p.m., but drivers were told to expect long delays. The freeway reopened by about 3 p.m.
The earlier crash — reported about 9:40 a.m. at 78th Street — blocked lanes and slowed traffic. There was no word on injuries resulting from that crash.
