EUGENE, Ore. -- A 10-year-old was airlifted to a Portland hospital after he and his father were hit head-on by a pickup while delivering newspapers in their truck early Sunday morning, Eugene Police said.
19-year-old Tyler Jarred was driving his Toyota pick-up south on Highway 99 early Sunday morning when at around 3:30 a.m. the Junction City teen crossed into the oncoming lanes of traffic, officials from the Eugene Police Department said.
The truck collided head-on with a Dodge truck driven by Christopher Burgess, 39 from Eugene. Burgess was delivering newspapers with his 10-year-old son, officials reported.
The crash rolled Jarred's truck, which stopped on its top on the sidewalk in front of a gas station at the intersection of Highway 99 and Fairfield Avenue. EPD said that the truck caught fire and a passing citizen put the fire out with an extinguisher.
Both Jarred and the 10-year-old were trapped inside their vehicles and needed to be extricated by emergency crews. The boy was taken by Lifeflight to a Portland-area hospital while Jarred was transported to a local area hospital, officials reported.
EPD said that alchohol was a factor in the crash and that charges are pending in this incident.
EPD officers closed down the roadway so the department's Major Collision Investigation team could process the scene of the crash. They anticipated the closure to last until 10 a.m. Sunday morning.Fairfield Avenue was used as a detour for north bound traffic, vehicles headed south will be restricted to one lane near the crash site.
According to the Oregon Department of Transportation there are no delays associated with this incident in the area.