Update 5:30 p.m.:
The Soldotna Police Department has identified the two drivers involved in a two-vehicle collision Thursday in Soldotna, in which one of the drivers died.
Soldotna resident Steven Marshall, 23, was killed in the crash near the intersection of the Sterling Highway and Mackey Lake Road at approximately 11:50 a.m., said Tobin Brennan, the senior officer on duty Thursday evening. Marshall’s family has been notified.
Marshall was driving a green and white Ford truck, and 73-year-old Thomas Varieur, of Kenai, was driving a red and silver Dodge truck. He was taken by Central Emergency Services to Central Peninsula Hospital to be treated for injuries, Brennan said.
“He’s alert and talking,” he said.
Brennan said one of the trucks crossed the center line and struck the other vehicle, though he said he could not release further details about the circumstances of the crash.
Officers were able to open up two slow lanes for travel at about 1 p.m., Brennan said, and the highway was completely cleared by about 4 p.m.
“We had the city come out and plow us an extra lane on the side bank and split the road with cones,” he said.
The Alaska State Troopers assisted with traffic direction and clearing the scene. The crash is in the early stages of investigation, Brennan said.
Original story:
One person is dead and another ended up in the hospital after a car crash Thursday near the intersection of Mackey Lake Road and the Sterling Highway in Soldotna.
Soldotna Police, Alaska State Troopers and Central Emergency Services all responded to the two-vehicle accident on the hill past Fred Meyer and just before the intersection on Thursday afternoon. The driver of one vehicle was pronounced dead on the scene, while CES took the driver of the other to Central Peninsula Hospital for medical treatment, said Soldotna Police Officer Tobin Brennan.
The Soldotna Police Department is investigating the incident, while Alaska State Troopers assisted on scene and directed traffic, which was down to one lane around the time of the accident.
This is a developing story. Details will be added as they become available.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.
Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Soldotna Police officers block off part of the Sterling Highway following a two-vehicle collision Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 near the intersection of the highway and Mackey Lake Road in Soldotna, Alaska. One person was killed in the crash and the other taken to Central Peninsula Hospital to be treated for injuries.
