FORT DODGE – Four people were hurt after a car crashed into a tree in Fort Dodge early Friday morning and one person was life-flighted to a Des Moines hospital.
On Friday, April 13, at approximately 1:12 AM, the Webster County Communications Center received a call regarding a single vehicle accident at the intersection of South 22nd Street and 9 ½ Ave South. The information given at that time indicated that a pickup had struck a tree and was occupied by four individuals. One of those individuals was described as unresponsive.
Officers with the Fort Dodge Police Department, along with the Fort Dodge Fire Department and Unity Point – Trinity Regional Medical Center, responded to the scene and located a 2006, GMC Sierra 2500 crew cab pickup that had struck a tree, which had intruded into the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Three occupants, including the driver, had removed themselves from the vehicle under their own power, while the remaining driver’s side rear passenger was unconscious and breathing inside of the vehicle.
Paramedics removed a 36-year-old male from the vehicle who was then transported by ambulance to Unity Point – Trinity Regional Medical Center in critical condition. The male was then transported via Life Flight to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. At the time of this release, the male is listed as being in critical condition. The identification of the victim will not be released while the family focuses on his recovery, police say.
The Fort Dodge Police Department, along with a Traffic Accident Investigator with the Iowa State Patrol are investigating the incident. The other three individuals in the vehicle were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Preliminary stages of the investigation indicate that alcohol may have been a contributing factor to the cause of the accident.