QUILCENE — A 70-year-old Toandos Peninsula man died late Wednesday afternoon following a two-pickup collision on Center Road that sent a Quilcene man to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
George Howton was dead at the scene 2 miles north of Quilcene after a 1989 Ford three-quarter-ton pickup driven southbound by Gabriel Nieman, 22, crossed the center line and glanced against Howton’s 1984 three-quarter-ton GMC pickup, sending both vehicles into the northbound ditch, said Capt. Ben Stamper of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Howton’s pickup vehicle burned after the collision, according to Stamper, and he was found dead in it. Stamper said he lived on the Toandos Peninsula, which is between Dabob Bay and Hood Canal. It is across Dabob Bay from Quilcene and extends south.
The collision was called into the Sheriff’s Office at 4:24 p.m. Wednesday.
Immediately after the wreck, witnesses said Howton was unconscious, Stamper said this morning.
“One witness said he was trying to determine if Mr. Howton was alive or not when the fire broke out, and he had to back off.”
Nieman had cuts and abrasion but did not appear to have any broken bones, said Chief Larry Karp of Quilcene-based Jefferson County Fire District No. 2.
Karp said emergency personnel were concerned about possible internal injuries to Nieman.
A Harborview spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an inquiry this morning on his condition.
Nieman was wearing a seat belt, Stamper said, adding that he did not appear to have been drinking alcohol and voluntarily gave blood for a blood test.
Traffic from Milepost 11 to Milepost 14 on Center Road was shut down from about 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Stamper said.
He said the collision remains under investigation.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
