2 killed, teenager injured in fiery Tacoma crash
TACOMA, Wash. — Two people were killed and a 15-year-old boy was injured in a two-vehicle crash in Tacoma early Wednesday morning.
The crash happened just before 4:20 a.m. at the intersection of South 38th Street and Pacific Avenue.
According to Tacoma Police Department (TPD) spokesperson Wendy Haddow, a man was driving northbound on Pacific Avenue when another vehicle traveling eastbound on South 38th Street drove through the intersection “at a high rate of speed” and crashed into the vehicle traveling on Pacific Avenue.
The car traveling on South 38th Street then hit a pole and caught fire. Haddow said three people were inside the vehicle at the time of the crash. Two of the people in the car died at the scene. A man who spoke with KOMO News said he rushed outside after hearing the crash and helped pull the 15-year-old from the burning vehicle.
“I was just trying to do what I thought was right [and] pull them out the car,” said Wesley Smith. “That’s a crazy situation.”
Haddow said a Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office employee was also one of the first people at the scene after the crash and “one of the first [people] to pull the 15-year-old out of the car.”
“We are so thankful for our community,” Haddow said.
The boy was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Haddow said.
The ages or identities of the two people who died in the crash are currently unknown. However, police at the scene told KOMO News early Wednesday morning that the bodies are “smaller,” so officials believe they may be children.
Police believe the man driving northbound on Pacific Avenue had a green light at the time of the crash. Haddow said he suffered non-life-threatening injuries and took themselves to the hospital.
No drugs or alcohol are believed to be involved in the crash. Tacoma police said speed is believed to have been a factor in the crash.
It is currently unknown if the three people in the car that caught fire are related. Haddow said the 15-year-old who was taken to the hospital was not in custody as of 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Haddow said police are not aware that any of the vehicles involved in the crash were racing.
Crews were seen removing the vehicles involved in the crash from the intersection around 8 a.m.
The TPD Collision Investigation Team responded to the scene.
No other information is available at this time.
