Bonfire Party in the Woods, Oct. 14

News release from the Coos Co. Sheriff’s Office. On October 11, 2014 at about 1:26 AM the Coos County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash in the Elliot State Forest east of Lakeside. The initial reports told of multiple injuries after a pickup truck had gone over the edge of the roadway near milepost 3.5 on Dean’s Mountain Road. This road is also known as the 2000 line. In the investigation deputies learned from persons at the scene that a bonfire party had been going on near mile post 3 on Dean’s Mountain Road. This party was attended by both minors and adults. It was reported there were approximately 60 people at this party. The party site was located on an old logging spur road and deputies checking the area found a burning remnant of a bonfire the partygoers had built in the forest. Fire season is and was still in effect during this party and open burning is not allowed. Sheriff’s Deputies and two Bay Cities Ambulances responded to the scene. Upon arrival the chaos was palatable. There were multiple injured persons lying in the roadway where they had made their way from the vehicle crash which lay approximately 70 feet over the edge of the road. Three victims were ultimately transported to Bay Area Hospital. Although the driver of the pickup reported no one else down at the vehicle, efforts were made to ensure no other victims were there. Coos County Search and Rescue were tapped out but were called off prior to responding. Ultimately a Sheriff’s Deputies hiked down to the vehicle and used a forward looking infrared radar (FLIR) scope looking for heat signatures. No other victims were located in the hasty search of the area. In the investigation it was learned that some point prior to the crash, seven members of the party decided to take a ride in a pickup and go “Ridgerunning”. The driver of the vehicle, a 17-year-old male, made the decision to drive instead of another intoxicated male. This decision was made in an effort to have a safe trip. Once the vehicle was traveling north on Dean’s Mountain Road, some person inside the cab of the vehicle grabbed the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to miss a turn in the road and go off and down the steep embankment. All of the passengers in the vehicle were inside the cab. There were no reported passengers in the bed of the pickup. One of the injured persons, Tyler Johnson, 19 years old of Coos Bay, was the most seriously injured. He and two juvenile females were transported by ambulance to Bay Area Hospital where they were treated. Mr. Johnson was reported to be in stable condition by Saturday afternoon. Of the reported 60 persons at the party only about fifteen remained when law-enforcement and rescue personnel arrived. Of those there no one could be found who had been drinking. Most of the partygoers who had been drinking had fled from the scene into other parts of the forest and county in an effort to elude a violation citation if found to be underage and drinking alcohol. These persons did not aid in the rescue of their peers. The investigation is continuing into the cause of the crash.