One person was medevac’d and two more were transported by ground for further care as a result of a Sunday single-vehicle crash near Wynoochee Dam.

The initial call, that a car with four occupants had crashed on a gravel road in the area of the dam, came in at about 11:25 a.m. said Chief John McNutt of Grays Harbor Fire District 2.

“It was an auto accident, vehicle accident with possible entrapment,” McNutt said in an interview. “Up that gravel road, about a quarter mile past the pavement.”

The area is part of District 2’s responsibility, McNutt said, but it’s a ways from the stations. Career and volunteer firefighters responded from all three of D2’s stations, McNutt said.

“It’s in our EMS response area. It’s 32, 33 miles up. We were able to get some personnel, the volunteers responding out of the Wynoochee station,” McNutt said. “We had a good amount of people responding. Good volunteer response.”

The first responders came from the Wynoochee Station, McNutt said. Early reports of a possible impalement were disproved, but one passenger was stuck in the vehicle, a four-door sedan.

“First guy when arrived on scene reported there was a vehicle off the roadway in a ditch against a tree,” McNutt said. “There was four passengers, one heavily entrapped. Unable to exit the vehicle on her own.”

The car kind of folded, McNutt said.

“From the impact of the tree, it crumpled, and crushed in around her. Mostly the dash and front end,” McNutt said. “We had to use our heavy hydraulics — the jaws of life — and cutting tools to cut her out. It was a lengthy extrication.”

Firefighters had to buttress the vehicle as they cut chunks out and the weight shifted, McNutt said, with the extrication process taking a little more than an hour.

“Had to keep the car stable,” McNutt said. “We had to readjust as you go along. It’s not a very rapid process.”

The entrapped passenger was medevac’d by Airlift Northwest, while two of the other passengers were transported to Harbor Regional Health.

Drugs or alcohol did not appear to play a role in the crash, said Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Wecker of the sheriff’s office.

“Doesn’t appear to be a factor. There’s no signs of it on scene,” Wecker said in an interview. “We called out our collision tech to investigate the collision.”

People recreating around the Wynoochee Dam area should drive carefully, especially on the gravel roads, McNutt said.

“Make sure you’re watching where you’re driving. Those turns come up sudden. If you’re going too fast, you can slide right off,” McNutt said. “If you’re going to be out and about, crews are going to be a long way from that area up there. That’s is the farthest reach for our response zone.”

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or michael.lockett@thedailyworld.com.