Updated 8:20 a.m. Three people, including a three-year-old-girl, were taken to Harborview Medical Center after a multiple car accident at 15th Ave NW and NW 75th St. We just spoke with Helen Fitzpatrick of the Seattle Fire Department who tells us only one patient, a man who was extricated from a vehicle, had life-threatening injuries. The girl and other male patient were both conscious and alert.
Earlier: Police say a man in his 40’s was driving a black Ford Fusion headed northbound on 15th at a high rate of speed around 6:15 Thursday evening. Witnesses tell police that the Fusion hit one car at NW 70th St without stopping and then rear-ended a Subaru at the intersection of NW 75th St.
The force of the second crash forced the Subaru under the rear of a Dodge truck, which was pushed into another Subaru and a Volvo. All were vehicles traveling northbound, police say.
Police are still looking into why the first Subaru caught fire with the 40-something-year-old driver and three-year-old girl trapped inside. Witnesses tell us that some bystanders raced to help the girl escape — an employee at Rizzo’s is believed to have pulled the girl from the vehicle. The neighbors surrounding this accident are to be commended for their help to the victims,” says WonderMother in comments. “They responded with extinguishers to put out the car fire and also a bystander started CPR.” Because of how the vehicles were positioned, police say crews from Seattle Fire had to rescue the driver.
Fitzpatrick tells us Medics performed CPR on the driver of the Subaru and he has life-threatening injuries at Harborview Medical Center. The girl was alert, conscious and crying, according to Fitzpatrick, who says she may have had a broken bone, and was also transported to Harborview. The driver of the Ford was also taken to Harborview. No other major injuries were reported.
Police say that no one was cited at the scene of the crash, which is standard procedure given the amount of follow-up investigation and collision reconstruction required.
15th Avenue NW was completely shut down at the scene of the accident for nearly five hours while officers and detectives conducted their on-scene investigation. The road is now back open.
“The Seattle Police Department would like to commend those citizens who courageously and selflessly put themselves in danger to help those in need,” the SPD Blotter states.
You can see more photos from the accident scene, courtesy of Silver, posted here.