5 including baby die in fiery vehicle wreck in eastern Oregon

VALE, Ore. — Five people including an infant died when two vehicles collided and burst into flames in eastern Oregon near the Idaho border, according to Oregon State Police.

Police responded to the crash at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday on U.S. Route 20 near Vale, state police said Friday in a statement.

A preliminary investigation found that Lance Lightfoot of Meridian, Idaho, was driving east in a minivan when it crossed into the westbound lane and collided with an oncoming sedan driven by Cecilia Loma of Carson, California, police said.

It’s not known why Lightfoot, 62, crossed into oncoming traffic, police said.

Both vehicles caught fire, and Lightfoot, as well as everyone in the vehicle driven by Loma, 27, died at the scene, police said. The other passengers were identified as 26-year-old Erik Ortiz, also from Carson, as well as a 15-year-old boy and an 8-month-old girl.

Also Friday, state police said three people were killed and two others were hurt in a Wednesday crash involving three vehicles west of Eugene on Oregon Route 126.

According to a preliminary investigation, a car driven by Allen Weaver Jr., 51, of Grace, Idaho, was traveling west at about 5:45 p.m. when the car for unknown reasons crossed the median and sideswiped a pickup truck that was pulling a travel trailer.

The car then crashed head-on into another pickup, police said.

Weaver and two people in the second pickup, identified as Lacy Taylor, 28, and Michele Taylor, 58, both of Eugene, died, according to police. The driver and another passenger in the pickup were seriously injured and taken to a hospital.

Neither of the people in the vehicle hauling the trailer were injured.