BASS LAKE – A evening drive down to Bass Lake ended with a serious accident and three young people being transported to the hospital.
Last evening, a group of teens who are spending the summer working at the Sugar Pine Christian Camp left that location to head down to the lake.
They were eastbound on Road 274 just after 10 p.m. and as the 19-year-old driver, a female from Oakhurst, entered the sharp turn just west of Fawn Point, she did so at too high a rate of speed, according to one of the two male passengers.
The car crossed the westbound lane and went off the embankment on the north side of the road, smashing into a large oak tree before landing on it’s nose with the rear of the vehicle hung up in a tree. All three occupants were trapped inside the car, due to the precarious angle at which it came to rest.
The rear passenger was able to search around in the car and locate a cell phone to call 911, but the vehicle was not visible from the roadway.
As the passenger honked the horn, CHP and Sheriff units searching for the crash turned on their flashing lights so they could be seen as they passed by, and the passenger could relay to the 911 operator when he saw them up on the roadway.
Once the car was located, Sierra Ambulance, CHP officers, firefighters and Sheriff’s deputies assisted in extricating the driver and the front seat passenger. Both were carried up to the ambulance and taken to the landing zone at the North Fork School where a waiting SkyLife helicopter transported them to Community Regional Medical Center.
The back-seat passenger had some cuts and scrapes on his hands and arms, but appeared otherwise uninjured. He was more concerned with his friends than with having his injuries tended to, but he was also transported to CRMC. He says all were wearing seat belts.
The roadway was blocked in both directions as the wrecked car was removed.
According to CHP at the scene, alcohol was not a contributing factor in this accident.
However, it was a factor in an arrest made as the scene was being cleared. According to CHP, Scott Marsh, of North Fork, failed to comply with those conducting traffic control as the tow truck was retrieving the car, and after being stopped, was determined to be under the influence. He was arrested, cited and released, and his car was towed.
