PRINEVILLE, OR (KPTV) -
Ten wildland firefighters who were headed to fight a fire in eastern Oregon were injured when the driver of their van fell asleep as he rounded a curve near Prineville.
The van, driven by 35-year-old Jeremy Miesner, of Salem, crashed into the left front side of a Freightliner truck at about 2:15 a.m. on Highway 126E.
All 10 people inside the van were taken to hospitals to be treated for their injuries. Nine of them have been treated and released, but 39-year-old Marcelino Cuesta Romero is in critical condition at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.
State police said the van drifted into the oncoming lane before it hit the truck, driven by 48-year-old Scott Ramage, of Washington, who wasn't hurt. The van had major damage to its left side.
Miesner has been cited for failure to drive within a lane.
State police said Miesner and the rest of the firefighters were headed to the Briley Mountain Fire near Monument, which had spread to 250 acres as of Monday night.
They work for Lava River Forestry, based in Salem. Police released the following condition updates on the firefighters injured in the van crash:
- Miesner, treated and released from Pioneer Memorial Hospital
- Christopher Reed, 29, of Sherdian, treated and released from Pioneer Memorial Hospital
- Rogelia Samic, 22, of Salem, treated and released from Pioneer Memorial Hospital
- Jesus Medera, 38, of Independence, treated and released from Pioneer Memorial Hospital
- Pedro Lemus Ramos, 37, of Salem, treated and released from St. Charles Medical Center in Bend
- Manuel Perez Abriz, 40, of Salem, treated and released from St. Charles Medical Center in Bend
- Cuesta Romero, 39, hometown unknown, is in critical condition at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend
- Jovita Romero, 36, of Woodburn, treated and released from St. Charles Medical Center in Redmond
- Jose Salas, 20, of Salem, treated and released from St. Charles Medical Center in Redmond
- Jerson Mendoza, 33, of Salem, treated and released from St. Charles Medical Center in Redmond
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