The Boone County Fire Protection District along with the Columbia Fire Department and University Hospital Ambulance Service responded to a reported extrication accident at 3:44 p.m. yesterday in the 100 Block of Route K West.
When firefighters on Engine 801 arrived just two minutes after the call was received, they found two vehicles involved in the accident with extreme damage to one vehicle and moderate damage to another. The driver of one vehicle, Paige Siddall a 17-year-old Columbia female and Rock Bridge High School student, was unconscious and not breathing when firefighters arrived. Firefighters, along with University Hospital Ambulance Service immediately began resuscitation efforts while the victim was being extricated from the mangled wreckage by both Boone County Firefighters and Columbia Firefighters. The driver of the vehicle was transported by ambulance to University Hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival. The driver of the white vehicle was also transported to University Hospital with moderate injuries.
It appears that the driver of the red Honda was traveling east on Route K when she lost control causing the vehicle to slide broadside in the roadway where it was then struck by the white vehicle-traveling west bound. The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
"It was a true team effort by both Fire Departments to remove the victim from the vehicle and the care that was being provided by the Ambulance service and firefighters on scene", said Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp with the Boone County Fire District. "It is very unfortunate and sad that the outcome could not have been different", added Blomenkamp.
The Boone County Fire District responded to their second fatality accident just 12 hours after the first one at 3:51 a.m. on Highway 63 northbound just south of the Oakland Gravel Exit.>
When Engine 501, located at 1675 Prathersville Road East, arrived they found one vehicle on its side with heavy damage to the front end and one male subject still inside. The patient was trapped in the vehicle and lying unconscious and not breathing. "The vehicle was sitting just inches away from a culvert with a 20 foot drop off to a drainage ditch below", said Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp.
The single vehicle rollover accident occurred when the 1992 Chevy pickup, driven by 18 year old Derek Struckhoff of Columbia, left the right side of the roadway and struck a concrete culvert retaining wall causing the vehicle to roll over on its side. The vehicle sustained heavy front-end damage and the male driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was the only occupant in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
"It is unknown why the vehicle left the roadway, however, the Columbia Police Department is currently investigating the cause of the wreck", said Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp. "The roadway is a straight flat stretch of highway", he added.
Boone County Fire District had units on the scene for over two hours while the police department and the medical examiner conducted their investigation.
