An Eventful Day at the Crafter's Mall
Saturday was an eventful day at the Mall. I had no customers
- but that was because the parking lot, Salmon Harbor Drive and the right turn
lane on Highway 101 were full of rescue vehicles.
I was working on taxes at the table when I heard the crash -
no brakes - just the crunch. A small light colored car traveling south on
Highway 101 hit a Chevy Blazer which was crossing the Highway from the Odyssey
ATV place trying to get to our store to check out the ATV's over here that are available to rent. (I found
all this out later).
What I saw was a "van" flying over the top of the
hood of the small car – it rolled once in the air, hit the ground rolled into
Salmon Harbor Drive and up onto the hill leading to our parking lot - the hill
stopped it and it rolled back down to Salmon Harbor Drive on the passenger side
of the vehicle - where it spun around a couple of times and ended up with the
underside of the "van" facing our store. When I first saw it flying
toward me – I thought they were going to end up in our store!!!
You know how when a crash happens in the movies everything slows down and you see every excruciating detail? Yeah, well, that doesn't happen in real
life. At least not this time. It was all over in a flash.
I ran for the phone and dialed 911. The owner of the grocery
store next door, Chuck, ran for the cars. A friend who lives across the street,
Willie, was home and he ran over also. There were several vehicles traveling on
Salmon Harbor Drive and they all stopped and ran to help. Chuck started to run back
to the store and I yelled at him that I had 911 on the phone and someone yelled
at me to get an ambulance here NOW.
I told the operator about the accident - she asked how many
vehicles were involved and I said one car and one van and that the van had
flipped several times and they needed an ambulance. She got all the information
she needed asked my name and said that she had my number so I could hang up. I did.
There were plenty of people helping so I stayed where I was in case they called
me back.
There were three people in that Blazer - father, mother and
son (about 7 or 8 years old) - plus two large dogs. No one was hurt. Their
airbags didn't deploy because all the stress was sideways - but their seatbelts
kept them in place. They had a barrier to keep the dogs in the back of the
Blazer - so the dogs rolled around in the back of the car - but stayed in place. Everyone
who saw the wreck figured there would be mangled bodies inside.
A woman, who will be called Sally, because that's not her
name (the name is changed to protect the guilty in this story), and her husband
were just across the Highway in her brother's trailer. After the wreck they came
outside to see what was going on then got into their van and drove across the
highway to park near the accident. By
the time they arrived the family was out of the Blazer and the people who had
stopped to help were getting the dogs and personal effects out of the vehicle.
There was a girl driving the small car and she got out of
her car with help, walked around the car toward the store and collapsed on the
steep bank leading from the highway to the store. She sat there with an elderly
lady who had been in a car way behind hers.
Minutes after the accident vehicles started pulling into our
parking lot - personal vehicles - cars and small pickups - belonging to the WB
Fire Department Volunteers. They all had walkie-talkies and were talking on
them when they arrived and had WBFPD license plates - so I could tell who they
were. This was several months before I would become one of "them."
They checked out all the victims - put out flares and
cleared away traffic so the emergency vehicles could arrive. We ended up with a
state police car, two county deputy cars, a green "Law enforcement"
jeep, a yellow rescue vehicle, an ambulance, two fire trucks, and two Mast
Bros. tow trucks.
The police spray painted where the two rigs ended up and
took statements. They asked me but, I didn't have anything to say because I didn't see what
caused the wreck.
I stayed at the store watching Sally and her husband. They
weren't helping direct traffic or helping the victims - and I happen to know
they are both thieves - so I was watching them. The people from the Blazer had
a pile of belongings under the Pelican Market sign.
Sally gave a statement to every officer. She kept going over
to the mother and putting her arms around her - which the lady didn't want.
A friend, Viki, stopped just after the accident happened and
stayed with me in the store. She wanted to know what I was doing. (I would move
to keep Sally and her husband in my line of sight - so I told her that there
were two people out there who tended to take advantage of any situation and I was
watching them. She knew who they were.)
Why Sally was making statements to the police I have no
idea. I was sitting at the Craft Mall with a ring-side seat and didn't feel
qualified to say what happened.
She was inside a trailer - even if she had been looking out
the only window on that side of the trailer she would have been facing the
wrong way - and by the time they came outside it was over.
The only people qualified to say what happened were in the car
behind the girl victim and in the two cars heading north on Highway 101 - they
were not involved in the accident because they were still on the hill when it happened.
Fortunately there were no cars waiting at the stop sign on Salmon Harbor Drive.
The two drivers couldn't even tell the officers what
happened. The father in the Blazer never saw the small car and the girl driving
the car didn't see the Blazer – she never touched her brakes until after she
hit the other vehicle.
The accident happened around 1:15. Around 2:30 the rescue
vehicles left. The girl in the small car was taken to the hospital to be
checked because her neck hurt. Only one county deputy and the state cop stayed.
And Mast Bros. began loading the vehicles. They put a chain on the Blazer and
pulled it upright - I saw for the first time that it wasn't a van. Viki left. Everyone
who lived in the area, and had run to help, left. Sally and hubby were still
there.
I walked over to the mother and asked if she wanted to come
into our store with her son where it was warm and they could sit down. She said
that she couldn't leave the dogs and I told her to bring them with her. So the
four of them came over to our store and I closed the door behind them to keep
in the heat from the sun.
We had a pleasant visit, considering the circumstances. I
let them lead the conversation. I got water for the dogs. The dad called AAA
and found a car rental place in North Bend where they could get a car and be
able to leave it at the Portland airport. They live in Vancouver, WA. His wife called him Mike. He called a taxi to take him to North Bend. I
told him that his wife and son and dogs were welcome to stay with me while he did
what he needed to do (rent a car and find a bank to get more money). We carried
their stuff over to the store and piled it on the sidewalk. The taxi came and
he left. So did Sally and hubby.
Mike got back around 4:30 and he offered me $20 for my
trouble - I put my hands behind my back and said no thanks. Mike said that he'd
read about small towns where people helped someone in need but had never
experienced it himself until that day. He was really impressed and they would
be back again. The boy said that it was too bad that Mike's job - he designs equipment
for telecommunications - couldn't be in our town - because he thought it would
be a great place to live. We loaded their stuff in the trunk of the car and I
went back into the store to make sure they had everything. Sally drove back across the highway into our
parking lot, got out of her vehicle, and started talking to them back at the
trunk of their car.
She said that after she'd helped to pull them out of their
car (she must have gotten a funny look because she immediately changed the
story to 'after my husband helped '. . . (all the people pulling them out of
their car were men - the women stayed back and helped the boy and his mom after
they got out – AND Sally and husband arrived AFTER the people had been pulled from the vehicles) she said that she went over to help the girl in the
other car. She told them that the girl was moving her head around and that the girl
had said that she was fine. And Sally told them she'd be glad to give them her
name and address so they could use her testimony.
They said thanks but no thanks and that they were glad the
girl had been taken to the hospital to make sure she was OK and that their
insurance would take care of whatever happened. Then they walked away from
Sally and came back to me. Sally drove away. The boy hugged me and told me I
was a really nice lady, the parents shook my hand. Mike started to tell me what
Sally said - but I just shook my head and Mike nodded (I think they must have
smelled opportunist). They left. The
dogs were named Sarah (part shepherd and part Rottweiler) and Loki (black lab).
I don't know the name of the mother or son - we didn't exchange names - I
figured they wouldn't remember mine later anyway and there were other things
that were more important.
The mother said that they had moved from Florida to
Vancouver after Thanksgiving and had found a house and moved in. They'd decided
to spend the weekend at the coast and had picked Winchester Bay.
The Blazer was her first brand new vehicle and was four
years old - they'd just paid it off last year -1998. Most of the information
came form the son. With the mother correcting when necessary. The top of the
Blazer had been crunched in on her side and hit her head. She had a headache –
took three aspirin. So, mostly needed some peace and quiet. I entertained the
son and dogs so she could pace the store and burn off adrenaline. And go to the
bathroom at the store to wash her face - she could feel splinters of glass.
Mostly they needed to feel safe while the Mike was getting
their rental car.
When Sally showed up as they were leaving - she tried to
give the mother some drugs that she takes for her headaches. No thanks.
I've seen cars go flying through the air in movies - but
always figured they had to use charges to get the cars airborne. I never
expected to see such a thing in real life and never hope to see it again. I
still can't believe they weren't hurt.
Note: The woman named "Sally" in the above, worked
with Jamie in the store. There had been
lots of thefts going on in the store, and with the help of a security camera
and VCR they caught her on tape pocketing money from sales instead of ringing
them up on the cash register. She was asked to leave the store. After she left everyone took inventory and
were shocked at the total amount of missing items. Of course, she was not the only thief, but
she did more than her "fair share" of damage.