DISCOVERY BAY — The State Patrol has identified the Jefferson County Public Utility District employee who died Monday morning following a one-vehicle wreck on state Highway 20.
The man was identified as Robert Wayne Phillips, 72, of Chimacum.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue initially reported Phillips as being 73 years old, but officials said Tuesday that Phillips was 72.
Philips, the special projects coordinator for PUD, was returning to the PUD’s Four Corners Operations Center after checking on a number of projects around Jefferson County, the PUD said in a news release.
“Bob wore so many hats,” said Assistant Manager Kevin Street. “I worked with Bob from the very beginning of my time here at the PUD and he will be sorely missed.
“He was instrumental in the transition to adding the electrical utility.”
The Jefferson County PUD has provided electrical power to residents of the county since the first week of April 2013, five years after a public vote in 2008 that authorized the PUD to acquire the power grid from Puget Sound Energy (PSE).
Phillips was originally hired as a water distribution manager in 2005 and stationed at the customer service counter taking payments and answering the phone.
During the transition to public power, Phillips moved to the electrical division and served as the PUD’s purchasing agent. He worked with Street and then General Manager Jim Parker to obtain all the tools and equipment necessary to get the PUD’s electrical division up and running by April 2013.
“Bob lived a very full life,” said Casey Finedell, PUD GIS specialist. “He had great stories. He’d even been the mayor of a small town in Colorado at one time. It’s going to take some time for all of us to process his loss.”
Though Phillips died of his injuries, the cause of the crash was not yet determined by Tuesday morning and the State Patrol was continuing to investigate the wreck.
According to the State Patrol, Phillips was driving eastbound on state Highway 20 when his vehicle gradually left the roadway to the right.
He traveled through the ditch for a short distance and went down into a small ravine where the left front of the vehicle struck a tree.
The force of the impact broke off the top of the tree and brought it onto the roadway, blocking one lane at milepost 5 near Woodman Road.
Emergency responders extricated the driver and brought him to the side of the road. He was alert and talking but collapsed shortly thereafter and CPR was performed.
Airlift Northwest was called in for transport to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
After several minutes of CPR, the driver was not responding and the helicopter was called off.
The PUD posted the following statement on Facebook on Monday: “We lost an employee to an auto accident on Highway 20 today. No one else was injured and more information will be forthcoming as we learn it and can share. Our thoughts and prayers are with the employee’s family and friends.”
Units from Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue, Discovery Bay Fire and Rescue, and Quilcene Fire & Rescue assisted the State Patrol.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken contributed to this report.
