Winds cause havoc in L.V.

By KRIS REILLY, EDITOR

High winds ripped through Lucerne Valley Wednesday afternoon, damaging at least one power line and contributing to a major traffic collision on Highway 18.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory that will remain in effect until 11 p.m. Wednesday night. The NWS report predicted sustained winds of 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 miles per hour, with wind speeds decreasing by Thursday morning.

At 1:55 p.m., a semitruck with an empty trailer was heading eastbound on Highway 18 near Rabbit Springs Road and veered into oncoming traffic. The big rig may have drifted due to wind gusts, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The trailer clipped two westbound vehicles, tearing the roof off a Toyota pickup truck and overturning a Mitsubishi sport utility vehicle. The big rig came to rest on its side on the edge of the roadway, and the other two vehicles ended up in the dry lakebed north of the road.

The driver of the pickup truck, an adult male from Victorville whose name was not released, suffered a laceration to his head and an injury to his index finger, CHP Officer Montie Hutton said. The man’s injuries were considered moderate, and he was transported by ambulance to a trauma center.

The driver of the SUV, 34-year-old Jenny Bartlett of Apple Valley, suffered only a small laceration on her hand and was picked up from the scene by a family member.

The driver of the semitruck, an adult male from Oakdale whose name was not released, had only a complaint of soreness.

Hutton said all three were “very lucky” not to suffer more serious injuries. There were no passengers in any of the vehicles.

San Bernardino County Fire Department Captain Ed Noble said there had been at least one report of a downed power line in the area on Wednesday afternoon, but local firefighters and paramedics were preoccupied with the big rig accident at the time.

The winds whipped in from the mountains south of town and blew enormous clouds of sand and dust into the air over the valley. The gusts were particularly strong in southern Lucerne Valley and may have reminded some residents of the wind storm that rocked the town in March and left much of the town without power for days.

As of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, there were no reports of widespread power outages. Southern California Edison’s website showed an outage affecting 30 households south of Highway 18 near Willow Wells Avenue.