[UPDATE 4:15 p.m.] Solo Crash Killed Man on Hwy 36 Last Night
According to Sequoia Anderson who was passing by, he was second on the scene of where the black Honda Ridgeline with red aftermarket rims had gone off the road and hit a tree. He told us in a message, “I climbed up the undercarriage on to the side of the car to see if I could see the driver. I then hooked up to pull it off the tree to gain access to the driver. When I could get to his wrist he had no pulse.”
He wrote, “The first people on scene were Animal control followed shortly by the ambulance.” Post Mountain Fire, Hayfork Fire Department and the California Highway Patrol also arrived to assist.
Anderson told us, “If there was anything I could do to help of course I would do it but in the end there was nothing that any of us could do.”
Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the driver.
UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: Press release from the Trinity River CHP District:
11-44 SR-36 Perez
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mis mas sinceras condolencias a la familia😓
English
Wow…that’s awesome.
A person loses their life in an accident, and another driver, that happened upon the scene goes above and beyond to help, tries to give condolences in such a heartfelt way, and YOU come up with that comment? What an ass.
Screen name checks out.
I will gladly second that friend!
your name fits you well
You need to add three letters to the end of Dumboldt.
Most of those words are practically English. You just need a little imagination.
It basically says many condolences to the family.
Anonymously commenting rude comments is pretty cowardly. At least have the balls to use your real name.
Right!!
Por Que?
Are you the Troll the BoS rolled over for the other day?
Get a life.
Learn Spanish.
You are a hero. Thank you for being there.
Bingo!!
Thanks for being there and trying to help. We need more folks like you
Thank you for trying to help. I know you’re that kind of person.
Thank you for being there for this person!
Very easy to drive too fast on 36. Even if one isn’t fighting, as a friend’s gf suddenly shout “The trees are chasing me!” and tried to grab the steering wheel.
My gf at the time, somewhere in the 78-81 timeframe, also in the front seat (I was working that evening), literally bit a chunk out of the dash while breaking her jaw.
As I said, 36 has enough twists and turns that even an innocent distraction just before a sharp turn turn can result in tragedy.
May the Lord comfort the friends and family and bring them His peace.
Sounds like some really bad acid
It does not sound like bad acid to me. It sounds like old school exciting speedy acid, maybe blue Peace acid from 1968 or Orange Sunshine which lasted into the early ‘70’s.
Isn’t that on the 2 mile grade after Bridgeville proper? Was he headed west too fast downhill.l? So sad.
I drive 45 on some of 36, but don’t worry, I constantly pull over for those that believe they are better than everyone else … pity people drive like morons.
Slow down and enjoy the view – even in the middle of the night.
No. Mile post 28.88. East of highway 3. Between Highway 3 and the Shasta County line.
Not near Bridgeville.
Reading comprehension without coffee = fail 🤣
No.
Seriously? Someone lost their life last night and their family and friends are mourning. And you, you have the audacity to insinuate that they were a moron. You can be doing 45 and a deer, mountain lion, or bear could run out in front of you and change everything. No, you are not suppose to swerve to miss an animal, but tell that to your brain when it happens so fast your gut reaction is to avoid the obstacle.
May this person Rest In Peace.
Good coment thank you! I have swerved and missed a deer and also later an elk! They were both part of herds and luckily I drove through a hole in the herd. Another time I could see it was impossible and I chose one deer to hit head on..leaving my tacoma w/ a permanent frown. I’m not saying it’s good to swerve but a LITTLE swerve worked for me. I was alert, knew my rig and I guess I did that “swerve a little but not too much” properly. That elk stepped out of the darkness south of Laytonville- not sure I’d have survived a direct hit at 60 mph in my light truck…Anyways so sorry for this person and their family and friends. RIP…
That piece of road, late at night, and probably too fast for the switchbacks.
But there’s no black box to know for sure.
Generalization about ppl driving is not a judgement on anyone in particular … plenty can happen in mere seconds to people safely traversing the road – by the look of that wreck though, it doesn’t look like safety for anyone, including the deceased by their own self, was of high regard.
Either way – I was referencing those that pull up from behind on others at 100mph (tad dramatic)
with their foot in the floor demanding to be let over – those people ARE morons.
Oh the dead! Oh the living!
Oh the humanity!
Get over yourself. Life ends for us all …
This is the other side of Hwy 36 in Trinty County. You are right about Humboldt county MM after last chance grade though
The odds are good that the driver was going well over the speed limit, and unfortunately, 36 claims another life.
36 didn’t claim anything. Darwin did.
Compared to older cars… modern cars can go pretty fast… until they don’t.
RIP
I had a 1976 BMW Bavaria that took me at high speed all over the place for a few years and was sold accident free.
Thank You for that, David. We are all proud of you, as your listening audience. After all, it is all about you.
Modern cars a fast and light. To make them fuel efficient (per government standards for fuel use) they use less steel in the construction and utilize crumple zone technology. To make them safe we have complex airbag systems. But not much protection for the top of the cabin.
As long as humans are involved nothing is safe.
I was thinking just that looking at the type of damage done to the cab specifically.
Hi Kym, just a suggestion. The vehicle description was fairly specific and unusual enough that, especially with the location, someone who knew the deceased could figure it out prior to family being notified. Or at the least have a panic-inducing experience until learning who the victim was. I don’t see how a description that specific informs your readers of anything important – the ID of the person will be released soon enough. I doubt anyone would prefer such horrible news be delivered this way.
There’s a photo. That’s tell it all. Hope family was notified before this was published
Actually, that vehicle could have possibly been stolen, or borrowed, however unlikely…
If it hasn’t been reported yet, the unfortunate driver might not necessarily even be the owner, or even the assumed victim…
It might take a minute to confirm the identity.
That would be a situation where a family member might be misled into thinking a relative had died, when in fact, that might not actually be true.
And that heartache would be unnecessary .
The solution is pretty straightforward.
De-prioritize the audience.
Prioritize the affected community members…
Added suspense doesn’t hurt an audience. Let them wait.
Let things properly sort out, first, releasing only official facts, never unofficial potentially damaging hearsay.
That way, it’s never going to unnecessarily hurt anyone, or their reputation.
Vicious false rumors suck, and are impossible to reverse.
The damage is done.
Prematurely releasing possibly untrue, misleading, incomplete, and/or inaccurate unofficial information, that could adversely affect community members, permanently harming them, should be strictly avoided, if at all possible, and at all costs.
Nobody likes their reputation tarnished, or even questioned, let alone ruined.
Any readers that would prefer that kind of unofficial information, over confirmed facts, would be in my opinion, less deserving of the necessary consideration, and not worthy of the associated risk of real harm to others.
Of course, I cater to neither, so it’s easy for me to say.
That is just my honest opinion, and I am aware that it’s not my decision, but I tend to agree with those against it, who it might displease and/or disservice.
Those in the audience who have indicated a preference to it seem to be lesser in number, and are also mostly those non affected.
Let them wait for the whole, officially sifted truth. That won’t hurt them, or their reputations, even one little bit.
If it’s difficult to understand, then just picture yourself on the receiving end of an untrue, vicious rumor, and see if you still feel the same way about it.
That should clarify things.
It’s that easy.🤷♂️
There’s a picture of the vehicle that seems even more specific, Ranger. Those rims are distinctive.
I understand though your concern though. Over the years, I struggled with the desire some people have to have new (as opposed to less timely) news be filtered through official channels before being put out by reporters. I knew how I felt which was that the pain of someone’s death comes from them dying not from me learning it from a public source like news rather than being told by law enforcement. If it was my family, I’d want to know as soon as possible so that I could start taking care of the situation as best as I could as quickly as I could. But I wanted to be sensitive to the needs of others who feel differently. I hate hurting people.
But over 15 years later, I haven’t figured out how to reconcile the needs of one group of people who don’t want information before it has been cleared through officials and those of us who want to have as much information as we can as soon as possible. Yes, I’ve had family members tell me that they wish they didn’t learn from the news and then I’ve had others in the same family tell me how very much it helped them to have that information early.
As far as I can tell there is no way of reconciling those two needs. My hope is that people will sort themselves out into people who prefer my way of doing things and those who don’t who will then choose not to read this site.
Thank you, Kym. Total respect for the way you manage your site.
Hi Kym, thanks for the thoughtful reply. I respectfully disagree, but I know you’re not cavalier about it, which I appreciate.
Thank you for the kind answer. It’s hard to make these kinds of choices and hard to have to live with causing some folks pain. I constantly go over these choices wondering if I’ve missed something or should change my response.
Kym, You are a sweetheart to worry so much. I have been to the scene of a few death accidents. The one that bothered me to most was an accident where the victim did not suffer at all. It was obviously quick and painless. The hard part was his phone kept ringing endlessly, and it was his wife’s name on the screen. None of us answered it.
I’m with you in that I want to know the bad news as quick as I can. No matter how you get the news it is no less painful than any other way.
As a side note, we found out on television that our Sears Catalogue store was closing. I suspected that it was going to happen, so it didn’t surprise me that much, but my wife was devastated. Sears management was, and is, a bunch assholes. Radio Shack turned out to be a breath of fresh air for us and always treated us fairly, and honestly. Unfortunately, Radio shack had too many assets. Corporate raiders couldn’t resist taking it down.
I imagine the wife worrying and if somehow her pain would have been eased by at least knowing the answer. For some of us, that would be true, but judging from how some folks respond here some folks would be devastated learning that way.
I was ever so grateful for Kym’s coverage of my sister’s accident. And once I had a few days to process the tragedy, this site gave me a place to come back to read what her friends had to share.
Thank you.
IDK if I would rather not be told until the authorities release the information to the next of kin. The one time that was an issue for me, I was able to get to the hospital where my friend was taken before being pronounced dead before the spouse was notified. In fact I was there when he finally was located to be told and was able to help when he came in. To this day I am glad I had that opportunity.
I can see that a person might be in a panic over a mistaken belief they saw a vehicle in the picture they recognized but that is usually a short period of distress whereas missing the opportunity to be with someone is forever.
Condolences to those left behind. RiP. Sad outcome for everyone.
Yes, properly translated means,
An ordinary Dundo.
Holy shit!
I am so very sorry the driver lost their life in that accident. The passing driver who found that accident stopped and probably risked his life to get to the victim. Sadly, when he did reach the drivers hand there was no pulse. After seeing the Ridgeline truck and don’t think the driver stood a chance. The person who stopped is a hero in my book. Condolences to the deceased driver’s family and friends. May God bless you all at this most difficult time.
Pretty assertive of the guy to hook a chain to the vehicle and pull it away from the tree…
My guess is he thought “if there’s anyway I might be able to save his life…..” and figured pulling it from the tree was therefore worth it.
Kind of a fire department thing…
If you are implying he should have waited for the Fire Department to rescue the victim, then you likely have no idea how long it takes for a volunteer fire department to arrive on scene to a rural crash site. That first assumes there is even cell service at the crash site.
Thank you.
Oh, peanut gallery, do tell us all about what you personally know about singlehandedly trying to extricate a terminally injured accident victim in medically exigent, (and/or flaming circumstances), keeping in mind the prevention of further possible injury, and the potential for consequences, mmkay…
And any relevant subsequent training, education and experience, please.
This should be interesting…
I’m all ears…
Surprise me.
Trust me, I know how long it takes for a volunteer fire department, or even a professional one, to arrive on scene to a rural, or even semi rural crash site…
I’m saying that he subjected himself to an enormous amount of liability if he wasn’t part of a fire department, and made the decision to attempt to extricate the patient by himself.
The nature of the survivability some crush injuries are such that experienced paramedics on hand are necessary the instant the patient is freed.
Was he going to transport the patient to the hospital as well?
Apply tourniquets, stabilization, airway adjuncts, etc.?
Look, I’m all for assisting a rescue, but…
It’s important to stay within your scope.
Patient extrication, in such an accident, is normally not a job for a novice with a chain hooked the back of his pickup truck.
It could cause additional injuries, if the patient had somehow miraculously survived the initial accident.
Sad but true.
Unless he was fulfilling a request from a higher medical or legal authority, he could be facing some serious litigation.
There are some instances, such as the threat of additional injury or fire, that an injured patient can be hastily moved.
This may or may not have been one of them.🤷♂️
But let me clarify one thing, I would never suggest that the man’s efforts were anything less than very valiant.
I wasn’t there, and cannot properly judge what may have been prudent and necessary at the time.
The way the story was written, it is a bit unclear if the ambulance was present or not when the vehicle was pulled from the tree…
Maybe it had already arrived, and he was assisting them.
Adrenaline is a very powerful motivator…
And I do have to hand it to the guy, it’s not like he just carelessly drove on by, even if he did stick his neck out.
What he did was extremely courageous, to be certain.
As far as liability, there is a possible legal loophole.
It’s called…
“Danger invites rescue”…
But it all boils down to…
What would a reasonable man do, in such a situation…???
He seems to be an extraordinary man, and it is no less than amazing that he singlehandedly pulled the car from the tree in an effort to save the unfortunate victim.
That, in itself, is definitely quite impressive.
So much assumption
Why are you asking argumentative questions about what a hero would have done if the person was still alive??
You have no idea the level of training Sequoia has you have no idea the level of intelligence Sequoia has you know nothing of his background education or training and how absolutely amazing this human being is…..
You don’t know this guy? He has those skills. It’s amazing he happened on this accident at this time. Sadly, his efforts couldn’t save this person.I thank him for trying. My condolences to the family that lost their loved one.
If you knew the man you were talking about you would know that he was capable and intelligent but you obviously do not know him…
I know “Sequoia” he is a true to life hero…..
What would you be saying right now if he actually saved the individual’s life????
Yes. That’s why he is a real hero instead of a bystander.
He definitely didn’t just drive on by…
Props to him for that, and for what he did do.
Hopefully, he will face no repercussions.
And even an attempt to save a victim that had already succumbed, will potentially have long lasting traumatic consequences.
Knowing that, and still stopping to assist, is heroic, in and of itself.
I just went to the accident scene to see for myself what happened, you can see cars tire tracts and paint markings made by CHP, driver entered one of those turns that keep getting tighter as you turn right side tires crossed over fog line on to gravel and the car got sideways then flew off road and hit the tree.
I am so sorry to the family mourning there loss but people really do need to slow down on this highway I have had so many people come up so fast behind me where I pulled over and almost rear end me very scary and dangerous how people just feel like they can go so fast and nothing will happen to them . It’s only a matter of time until these people kill themselves or someone else slow down and enjoy the beautiful road were not in a race ..
You are a real life hero Sequoia….
I am happy to know you
Sequoia is my Nephew and you won’t find a better man. He is always helping others, feeding the homeless, and elderly.