Wednesday, Mar 5, 2025 10:58 AMUpdated Wednesday, Mar. 5, 2025 4:26 PM
Emergency workers responded to initial reports of two people trapped
Durango Fire Protection District emergency personnel work to extricate the driver in a Jeep SUV after colliding with a U-Haul truck on Wednesday on U.S. Highway 550 four miles south of Purgatory Resort. A Flight For Life helicopter sits on the road waiting to transport him to Mercy Hospital. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
A head-on crash on U.S. Highway 550 near Electra Lake, 4 miles south of Purgatory Resort, shut down all lanes of travel shortly after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Both lanes of traffic reopened at 2:15 p.m.
More than 20 emergency personnel responded to the report at 10:38 a.m. of a collision between a Jeep and a U-Haul box truck at milepost 45.
Colorado State Patrol Capt. Angela DeGuelle confirmed the highway would be shut down, and early reports indicated two people were trapped in one or more vehicles.
Durango Fire Protection District emergency personnel use two Jaws of Life to extricate the driver in the Jeep SUV after colliding with a U-Haul truck on Wednesday on U.S. Highway 550 four miles south of Purgatory Resort. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
Both vehicles were on their sides, and the extrication of someone inside the Jeep remained underway as of 12:15 p.m., over 90 minutes after the crash.
The driver of the Jeep was taken to Mercy Hospital with serious injuries in a Flight for Life helicopter. One of the two people traveling in the U-Haul was transported to Mercy in an ambulance; the other left the scene in a private vehicle.
The crash remains under investigation, DeGuelle said. Details around how the crash occurred were not immediately available.
This is a developing story. Check back with www.durangoherald.com for updates.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
It was a complicated extraction of the driver in the Jeep SUV – he was pinned by the motor after his car and a U-Haul truck collided Wednesday on U.S. Highway 550 four miles south of Purgatory Resort. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
Transmission fluid leaks from a U-Haul truck after a collision with a Jeep SUV on Wednesday on U.S. Highway 550 four miles south of Purgatory Resort. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
Durango Fire Protection District emergency personnel and the Flight For Life crew take the driver of a Jeep SUV to the Flight For Life helicopter. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
Durango Fire Protection District emergency personnel and the Flight For Life crew take the driver of a Jeep SUV to the Flight For Life helicopter. The Jeep collided with a U-Haul truck on Wednesday on U.S. Highway 550 four miles south of Purgatory Resort. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
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