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Collision with logging truck closes Highway 89 for hours

Jeremy Morrison, Sun News Service

Traffic was delayed for three hours along Highway 89 between Tahoe City and Truckee Tuesday morning while a wreck involving a logging truck was cleared off the roadway, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Just after 8 a.m. on Oct. 17, a Jeep Cherokee traveling southbound outside of Truckee veered into the opposite lane. An oncoming 1974 Peterbuilt struck the Jeep, sending it to the west shoulder of the highway.

The big rig also careened into the western shoulder, coming to a stop after hitting an embankment. The rig’s tractor overturned, and while the trailer remained upright, a number of its logs became dislodged and blocked the southbound lane.



The driver of the logging truck, Michael A. Maddox of Oroville, Calif., complained of neck and back pain but was not seriously injured, according to the highway patrol’s report.

The Jeep carried two, father and son Michael K. Althouse, 37, and Timothy M. Althouse, 13, of Truckee. Timothy was asleep at the time of impact and suffered minor injuries to his left leg. The boy was able to crawl out of the back of the Jeep before emergency personnel arrived on the scene.



The vehicle’s driver, Michael, received significantly more severe injuries, including internal damage. After being extricated from the Jeep by members of the Squaw Valley Fire Department, Althouse was flown to Washoe Medical Center, where he remained in the Intensive Care Unit as of Wednesday morning.

According to the California Highway Patrol, alcohol and drug use did not play a part in the accident.


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