At least one dead after vehicle plows through bridge guardrail in Red Bluff

RED BLUFF — Officials are investigating a single vehicle, rollover traffic collision that claimed at least one life earlier this afternoon in Red Bluff. The deadly crash happened on a narrow bridge in the area of Rawson Rd. and Chard Ave., according to scanner traffic and a CHP incident log.

Both Rawson and Chard have bridges that sit barely a half-mile from each other – one that crosses a canal and the other a small stream – and it was not immediately clear which of the two bridges the accident happened at.

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California Highway Patrol was dispatched to the scene of the wreck at 2:08 p.m., after a caller reported a single vehicle, rollover traffic accident.

CHP arrived at the scene within minutes and found a Chevy HHR with heavy front-end damage that had plowed through a bridge guardrail and overturned, coming to rest about 30 feet from the roadway.

Shortly after arriving, the officer described finding victims with open fractures and other major traumatic injuries and requested additional resources to the scene, including an air ambulance and two ground ambulances.

An Enloe Flight Care air ambulance soon arrived in the area and CHP directed the incoming helicopter to land in a large, open field, just north of Chard Ave. Several victims were eventually transported from the scene.

At 3:56 p.m., CHP updated their online log to reflect that the incident had turned fatal. As their investigation continued, the Chevy was stored as evidence and CHP’s AirOps took video from overhead of the scene of the accident.

CHP has not yet released any information regarding their initial investigation, which was active and ongoing at the scene as of this report.

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of 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 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.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 14 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.