One airlifted after Hwy 299 crash between car and big-rig oil tanker

One person was airlifted with serious injuries after a head-on collision involving a semi-truck and small car earlier this afternoon. The crash happened on Highway 299 a few miles east of Moosecamp and about a half-mile west of Hatchet, according to witnesses.

According to a CalTrans worker who stopped at the scene immediately after the wreck, the driver of the car was reportedly driving erratically and was seen recklessly passing other vehicles over double yellow lines and on blind curves.

Just before the accident, the Honda was seen on the wrong side of the highway and the driver of the big-rig tanker tried pushing his vehicle as far off the road as he safely could, but the two vehicles collided head-on.

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Motorists traveling on the highway reported the accident shortly after 10:30 a.m., and 911 callers reported driver of the car was trapped inside his wrecked vehicle, according to a CHP incident log.

The involved vehicles were described as an older, black Honda or Nissan and an SST Oil big-rig tanker truck.

According to their website, SST – Shasta Siskiyou Transport, is based out of Redding and transports oil and kerosene based products for area home and business deliveries.

Good Samaritans who stopped to render aid to the injured driver of the small car reported after the crash that the male victim was alert and conscious, but had suffered major injuries.

“He wasn’t in good shape but was able to speak,” witness Mikayla Hayes later described on Facebook’s What’s Really Happening in Burney.

Based on the car driver’s injuries, CHP and medical personnel at the scene requested an air ambulance respond to transport the victim to a hospital for further treatment.

While a helicopter was responding to the area, firefighters used the “Jaws of Life” to extricate the seriously injured driver from the wrecked car.

A Reach Air Ambulance soon arrived in the area and landed on the highway shortly before 11:30 a.m. The driver was quickly loaded onto the helicopter before being airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Redding. His current condition has not been updated.

It was not immediately known if the truck driver was injured or received medical treatment. However, Redding resident Julie Van Riper-Myers happened upon the crash while on a medical transport and heading back down the mountain to Redding later told SCNS that she spoke briefly with the SST driver, who said he was not injured in the collision.

“But my prayers go out to the other gentleman and I really hope he makes it,” said Van Riper-Myers.

CHP has not yet released any information regarding the crash and their investigation is ongoing.

This is a developing story that will be updated as new information is available.

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Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.