WEST UNION, IOWA – Three women were seriously hurt Thursday morning after a crash on a slippery Iowa roadway.
On January 14, 2016 at 7:51 AM, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 report of a two vehicle accident at the intersection of Highway 150 and 190th Street just south of West Union. Once deputies arrived, they requested West Union Fire to bring the jaws for people trapped.
A 2003 Ford Taurus driven by Kellie Adel Blanchard, age 46 of West Union was traveling south on Highway 150 when a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by Sara Ann Shaffer, age 23 of Waterloo was traveling north on Highway 150 when she lost control on the frost covered roadway and drifted into the lane of Blanchard. A head-on collision then occurred.
Blanchard was trapped and had to be cut from her vehicle and taken to Palmer Hospital and later airlifted to Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota with serious injuries. Shaffer and her passenger, Shelby Ann Shaffer, age 25 of Oelwein, were taken to Palmer Hospital for treatment of their injuries. Sara Shaffer was later airlifted to Gunderson Hospital in LaCrosse, Wisconsin for treatment of her injuries.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Transportation Enforcement Patrol, Fayette County Conservation, West Union Fire Department and Tri State and Fayette Ambulance services, and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Investigation Unit.
The accident is under investigation at this time.
Thursday morning, the nearby Chickasaw County Sheriff warned of slick roads.
“Be careful on these cold mornings,” the agency said in a statement. “With the frost overnight, we are getting very slick roadways. We have had some ‘close calls’ recently with folks sliding through some intersections, etc.”
