Time: Around 4:45 P.M.
Location: Near Philomath, Oregon
Vehicle(s) Involved: Toyota Tacoma, Ford Econoline
"A Portland man who was seriously injured in a fiery crash two miles west of Philomath on Saturday was reportedly in stable condition on Sunday afternoon, but faces charges related to the crash.
Biet Nguyen, 69, of Portland was cited with third-degree assault, driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving after his pickup rolled and then slid on its roof down Highway 20. An oncoming van struck it and caught fire.
Driving east on Highway 20 toward Philomath on Saturday evening, Nan Perigo was the first witness on the scene at 4:44 p.m. She slowed when she saw a cloud of dust in front of her.
“The next thing I knew,” she said, “there was an upside-down car in front of me and a van on fire across the way.”
The driver of the van, Stephen Sever, 63, of Corvallis, seemed dazed by the impact, Perigo said. He hadn’t realized that his 1999 Ford Econoline had caught fire. Perigo and another bystander alerted him.
“We both hollered for him to get out,” she said. “… He was slow to react but once he realized what we were saying, he got out.”
He escaped out of the passenger side window. Emergency responders transported him to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries.
Nguyen, upside down in a 2003 Toyota Tacoma pickup, was unconscious after the crash, Perigo said. She hadn’t noticed at first, but he was the driver who had passed her just minutes earlier.
Multiple people had called 911 prior to the crash, reporting that the pickup was weaving and might be driven by an intoxicated driver, according to Benton County sheriff deputies.
Investigators believe that Nguyen’s vehicle drifted off the highway and when it hit gravel, he jerked the wheel to get back onto the road. It caused the vehicle to flip and begin to slide on its roof.
Sever’s van crashed head-on into the front driver’s side of the upside-down pickup and came to rest in the ditch on the westbound side of the road.
After Sever escaped the burning van, Perigo and another bystander gathered fire extinguishers from the rows of cars that began to gather at the scene.
“We were concerned that the van was going to blow up and cause even more problems,” Perigo said. “We emptied four fire extinguishers on it and it was still going. It would slow it down but none of them would put it out.”
Philomath Fire Department put out the blaze and cut open the other vehicle to get to Nguyen.
“The roof was crushed,” Perigo said. “He (Nguyen) obviously rolled it hard.”
The crash resulted in the closure of Highway 20 for roughly three hours.
The Benton County Multi-Agency Crash Investigation Team assisted at the scene. Firefighters and EMTs from the Philomath Fire Department and the Corvallis Fire Department assisted, as well as the Oregon Department of Transportation.
The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has any information to contact Sgt. David Peterson at 541-766-6820."
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