Tacoma man killed in crash, Hwy. 17 closed
Crews clean up after a fatal accident Friday morning at the Lind Coulee Bridge on state Route 17. A Tacoma man died after his truck collided with a semi-truck.
WARDEN - A Tacoma man was killed early Friday morning in a pick-up and semi-truck wreck that closed state Route 17 for more than nine hours.
Kirk D. Petersen, 38, of Tacoma, was killed when his 2005 Ford F-250 truck struck a 1999 Peterbuilt semi-truck near milepost 43.
The wreck was reported at 3:18 a.m. Friday.
Francisco J. Buenrostro, 26, of Quincy, was driving the semi south on state Route 17 while Petersen was heading north.
Washington State Patrol troopers said Petersen was in the southbound lane when Buenrostro swerved to avoid a collision.
Petersen then went back into the northbound lane where the two vehicles collided.
Both drivers were wearing seat belts, patrol reports said.
Petersen was reported dead at the scene, while Buenrostro was injured and transported to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake.
Hospital officials said he was later transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
As of Friday afternoon, he was reported to be in satisfactory condition.
The road was closed for more than nine hours while the semi-truck was emptied.
"The trailer had to be off-loaded by hand before they could move it," Lt. Scott Martin with the patrol said.
Buenrostro was transporting produce, troopers said.
The road was opened again just after noon on Friday.
No citations were made in the incident, and troopers are still investigating if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the wreck.