SUQUAMISH — Highway 305 was closed shortly after 7:30 a.m. Dec. 16 following a two-car crash that took down a light pole and trapped a man in his car, just west of the Agate Pass Bridge.
Firefighters from three departments worked to carefully extricate the driver from his crumpled passenger car, North Kitsap Fire & Rescue’s Michele Laboda reported.
NKF&R crews were called to the scene at 7:37 a.m. to find a severely damaged small sedan in the road’s eastbound lane with one person trapped inside. A full-sized pickup truck, also with significant damage, was off the roadway; its driver, the sole occupant, had exited his vehicle on his own. A light pole lay in the eastbound lane.
Firefighters called for additional assistance from NKF&R as well as from Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island fire departments. Four law enforcement agencies — Washington State Patrol, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, Suquamish Police Department and Bainbridge Island Police Department — also went to the scene to assist.
“While one group of firefighters took care of the pickup driver, the remaining personnel worked to free the man in the sedan,” Laboda reported. “The complicated and delicate extrication operation, requiring removal of the car’s roof and much more, took over 30 minutes.”
As soon as he was out of the car, the man was rushed to a helicopter landing zone at Bainbridge Island Fire’s headquarters station and flown to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. The pickup driver, with what appeared to be less serious injuries, was taken to Bremerton’s Harrison Medical Center by Poulsbo Fire aid unit. The road was closed in both directions until approximately 9 a.m. The westbound lane was opened to alternating traffic about that time.
Three more crashes were reported in the area within the next two hours: A collision at Suquamish Way and Division Avenue; a non-injury crash at 305 and Viking Avenue; and a crash with possible injury on Front Street near the Liberty Bay Auto Center.
After the last fire crews cleared the scene at 305 and Suquamish Way, at about 9:20 a.m., the roadway remained closed while investigators from WSP worked to determine the cause of the crash.
