On Wednesday afternoon at 4:01 p.m., the Alpine Fire Department was on the scene of a two-vehicle head-on collision roughly four miles north of Alpine in the Snake River Canyon on US 89. 

According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP), a woman driving a Honda CRV was traveling toward Alpine when the vehicle drifted sharply left of center, missing one vehicle and then colliding with a Ford F-150 pickup. The driver of the Honda, Anne Wright, 80, of Alpine died instantly at the scene. The two occupants of the pickup, Seth and Jamie Thomsick of Utah were transported to Star Valley Health with what were described as non life-threatening injuries. They were treated and released. 

According to the WHP, seatbelts were in use and the belief is that Ms. Wright either fell asleep or had a medical condition that caused the vehicle to drift. 

While Alpine Fire was waiting for the investigation process to occur, they were called to another accident at 5:14 p.m. on Stateline Road where a vehicle had gone through a fence and into a pond. Chief Mike Vogt commented on the flurry of activity. 

“Accidents involving fatalities take a lot of time to investigate so there is a process there to get all the facts for the investigation,” he said. “While we were waiting on the wreckers and determining the use of extrication tools, we were called to the other incident on State Line road, but we had to use Creamery Road because it’s on the north end. So we called Thayne in case they could beat us there. The victim was in the water but on the shore and we were going to inflate our raft but there was a boat on scene and we rowed over and put a pelvis binder on him and put him in the boat. Then we had to put him in a basket to get him up over a steep slope.”

The Alpine Fire crew had a lot of the needed work in place as other organizations responded to help. 

“We only had six people in the canyon but we were handling it,” he said. “We only had four at the pond. Search and Rescue showed up to assist. We also had two deputies from [the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office] because it was right there on the border. “

According to WHP Trooper Chad Ludwig, who worked the scene in the canyon, there was yet a third incident further up the canyon in Teton County involving two vehicles, one full of commuters and the other full of teenagers. That crash is currently under investigation by the organization.

Vogt praised his organization for what they were able to do.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” he said. We don’t have a lot of guys but they are good guys and do a lot of things.”

The pair of incidents mirrors a similar situation from Monday when first-responders from Afton and the WHP dealt with a hit and run situation and were also called to an accident with injuries in Swift Creek at virtually the same time. 

Vogt emphasized that it is the nature of the challenges of such work in Star Valley which is spread out with population but has just three incorporated towns with EMS and fire services. 

“It’s just the distance between things,” he added. “I mean, just in our county, we could be responding at the elbow up the canyon and then there could be a fire in Etna and that’s a lot of miles to cover. We have good people and Thayne and Afton do what they do but that distance is just kind of the nature of where we live.”