BREAKING: Local woman dies in wreck

One person died and two were injured in a three-car accident on Highway 101 near the Oregon Department of Transportation weigh station at about 4:40 p.m. Friday.

Maritess Demoret, 31, of Gasquet, Calif., was pronounced dead at the scene after her Toyota Tacoma pickup was stuck head-on by an oncoming Dodge Ram pickup, according to the Oregon State Police.

Demoret worked at the Del Norte Community Health Center in Crescent City.

Harold Bickley, 76, and Gloria Bickley, 74, of Chico, Calif., were transported by ambulance to Sutter Coast Hospital for treatment, OSP representitives said. Harold was later flown by Cal-Ore Life Flight air ambulance to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg for treatment of serious injuries. Gloria’s injuries are considered minor.

Southbound traffic was halted for several hours while northbound traffic was rerouted through the weigh station as emergency crews worked.

The accident began when the Bickleys’ northbound white Dodge Ram pickup attempted to pass a car in a no-passing zone in front of the weigh station, according to witness Marcelina Muro, of Brookings.

Muro, who was driving behind one of the vehicles involved in the accident, said she saw the truck try to return to the northbound lane to avoid Demoret's oncoming southbound Tacoma.

According to the OSP, the two pickups collided head-on.

The Tacoma flipped over and rolled three times, landing upside down, Muro said.

“It was one reaction after another,” Muro said. “The white truck hit and totaled the car.”

A southbound Ford Thunderbird veered onto the right shoulder to avoid the truck and came to rest against the bushes. The driver of that car, Noemi Hernandez, 31, of Crescent City, walked away without injuries, according to the OSP.

The damage to the Tacoma was so complete that the make and model of the vehcile were not immediately apparent.

At one point the car caught fire, and Muro called out for a fire extinguisher.

“Someone came out of nowhere with an extinguisher,” she said.

Curry County sheriff’s deputies, Oregon State police, Harbor Volunteer Fire Department and Brookings Volunteer Fire Department, as well as three Cal-Ore ambulances, responded to the accident.

OSP troopers, the Coos County Medical Examiner, Curry County Sheriffs Office, Brookings Police Department, and the Curry County District Attorney worked at the scene until well after dark, investigating the cause of the accident.