Two injured in single-vehicle crash on West Kingston Road

Published 10:36 am Wednesday, September 9, 2015

KINGSTON — One man was airlifted to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center and another was transported by aid unit to Bremerton’s Harrison Medical Center after a one-vehicle crash Aug. 28.

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue crews were called to West Kingston Road, near its intersection with Norman Road, at 8:10 a.m. The first unit to arrive on scene — about five minutes later — reported finding a late-model, full-sized pickup with severe front end damage, partially blocking the road’s westbound lane, NKF&R spokeswoman Michele Laboda reported.

The truck’s driver, a 39-year-old Suquamish man, was out of the vehicle. The driver’s side airbag had deployed, and the driver told crews that he’d been wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, Laboda reported.

“His injuries appeared to be minor, but he was taken to the hospital as a precaution due to the apparent forces involved in the crash,” Laboda reported.

His passenger, a 62-year-old man also believed to be from Suquamish, was entrapped in the crumpled passenger compartment. Within about 15 minutes and after using hydraulic extrication tools to pry the passenger door open, firefighters freed the man.

“He appeared to have not been restrained by a seat belt at the time of the crash and his injuries were serious enough to require helicopter transport from a landing zone at David Wolfle Elementary to the Seattle trauma center,” Laboda reported.

Deputies with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the cause of the crash.

As the rain season nears and roads become slick, Laboda said firefighters urge drivers to take adverse conditions into consideration.