Craig Daily Press / Crash on US 40 near Mount Harris Canyon sends 3 to hospital

Archive for Saturday, January 26, 2013

January 26, 2013, 10:01 a.m.

Updated: January 26, 2013, 5:08 p.m.

Steamboat Springs — The Colorado State Patrol on Saturday afternoon still was trying to piece together how four cars crashed in the morning on U.S. Highway 40 between Steamboat Springs and Hayden.

Emergency responders were called at about 7:50 a.m. to respond to the accident about nine miles east of Hayden at the east entrance of Mount Harris Canyon.

Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue Capt. Scott Hetrick said two of the cars involved in the crash had collided head-on, and one person was extricated from a car. He said three people were taken to Yampa Valley Medical Center. Their injuries were not thought to be life threatening.

West Routt Fire Protection District firefighters helped with the accident.

Hetrick said road conditions were hazardous when the crash occurred.

"We had black ice from the mountain station all the way out to the accident," he said.

Trooper Sampson was investigating the crash, which he said actually was two separate two-car crashes. He said they were trying to figure out whether one crash caused the other.

Because of the ongoing investigation, Sampson did not want to release the names of the people involved. He said everyone involved lives in Routt or Moffat counties.

Sampson said the highway was shut down for about 30 minutes because of the crash.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247 or email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com