Police & Rescue: No major injuries in Rt. 100 crash, backcountry rescue

Sept. 26, 2023  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

No serious injuries were reported from police and rescue calls this weekend including a head-on crash near Shaw’s on Vermont Route 100 in Waterbury. 

Waterbury Backcountry Rescue was also called out to Northfield to assist Mad River Valley Ambulance Service with an injured hiker. 

The crash happened on Sunday at about 4:15 p.m. on Waterbury-Stowe Road/Rt. 100 when a vehicle pulled out from Billings Mobil into oncoming traffic, according to Vermont State Police. 

Trooper John Gildea reported that the investigation found that a 2016 Dodge Journey pulled out from the gas station and Maplefields convenience store and failed to yield to oncoming traffic. The vehicle was driven by Ashley Horton, 28, of Montpelier. 

A second vehicle, a 2006 Subaru Legacy, was northbound, driven by Ian Young, 22, of Waterbury. Young’s vehicle swerved but collided into the driver’s side of Horton’s vehicle, police said. 

Both drivers were wearing seat belts, according to the police report, and neither driver was seriously injured. Young’s vehicle had heavy front-end damage and Horton’s had driver’s side front-end damage, police said. 

Hiker assist in Northfield

On Saturday at 6 p.m., crew members from the Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team mobilized to respond to a request for mutual aid from Mad River Valley Ambulance Service and their backcountry rescue unit. 

Waterbury crew leader Brian Lindner shared an account of the call that involved a 52-year-old male hiker from Vermont who had injured his knee hiking a very steep and difficult trail on the Northfield side of Scragg Mountain. “He was unable to walk but had adequate clothing and supplies to safely await rescuers,” Lindner explained.

The Mad River team set up a command post at the trailhead in Waitsfield at the end of Bowen Road. They determined the fastest route to the patient was by ATV up the Waitsfield side of the mountain, then to proceed by foot to the summit and down the Northfield side to the hiker’s location.

Responders placed the hiker in a leg splint and evacuated using a Stokes litter over challenging terrain that required using ropes to lower the injured man. Shortly before midnight, the evacuation team met members of Northfield Ambulance coming up their side of the mountain in an ATV. 

Lindner said the patient was then taken to the base of the trail where he was met to be taken to Central Vermont Medical Center by private car.  

Lindner said this was the Waterbury backcountry team’s ninth rescue in 2023. Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team is a unit of Waterbury Ambulance Service.