According to the Iowa State Patrol, the incident took place around 4:51 PM on Highway 18 west of Commercial Avenue in Charles City. A 2007 Buick Terraza driven by 44-year-old Anthony Schmitz of Ionia, Iowa was traveling west on Highway 18 in Charles City when it crossed the center line. The Terraza was then involved in a head-on collision with a 2016 GMC Denali driven by 52-year-old Heather Meyer of Bassett, Iowa.
As a result of the collision, Schmitz was injured and transported to Mayo hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. Also injured were 11-year-old Mary Jane Schmitz and 10-year-old Miley Schmitz, both of Ionia. They were both taken to hospitals (Mary Jane to Mayo and Miley to the Floyd county hospital). Heather Meyer was injured and flown by Mercy Air Med to Mayo Clinic.
According to a statement from the Charles City police department: “At 4:51 pm yesterday, the CCPD was dispatched to a horrific head-on accident on Highway 18 east. Deputies from the FCSO and an ISP trooper came without even being called to assist. Great teamwork! Thanks for covering the accident, Trooper Sinnwell! The CCFD, AMR, and Floyd Co S&R worked tirelessly side-by-side to get the victims out and to medical care. Awesome work people! Thanks to Marzens Towing for getting the road back open so quickly afterwards. But the real heroes were the unsung heroes behind the scene. Like the woman who took the battered young girl into her vehicle and cared for her until medical aid got there. And the woman who stood in the cold beside a smashed vehicle comforting the driver until they could be extracted. And also the dispatcher, sitting by herself in a room, who took numerous frantic, stressful calls and got the needed help on the way by making the many calls required. Thank you to all of you. It’s great to live in a community where we pull together when someone else is in need. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.
Assisting the Iowa State Patrol was Charles City police, the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, the Charles City fire department, and AMR ambulance.
