Editor’s note: Updated with additional information Oct. 5. – MD

Clallam County Fire District 3 reports one person was airlifted Friday to Harborview Medical Center following a collision between a sport utility vehicle and semi-truck in front of 7 Cedars Casino.

Battalion Chief Chris Turner said medics first responded to a report of a wreck at 2:25 p.m. Oct. 4 on the 27000 block of U.S. Highway 101 where a semi-truck and SUV collided.

Two Blyn paramedics were first on scene and requested Life Flight and additional support, Turner said.

Washington State Patrol reports that Katherine Melcer, 44, of Sequim was attempting to turn left in a 2002 Toyota Highlander across traffic from 7 Cedars to go westbound on the highway, and failed to yield to the semi-truck going eastbound.

State Patrol troopers said the Collin Jacobs, 23, of Shelton struck the Highlander’s driver’s side with the semi-truck, and both Melcer and her passenger Teresa Riley, 46, of Sequim were seriously injured.

Riley, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was flown to Harborview Medical Center from the Jamestown Justice Center on Sophus Road, and Melcer was transported to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.

State Patrol troopers report Melcer is under suspicion of driving under the influence.

Jacobs was not injured, State Patrol reports.

The highway was completely blocked while medics extricated Melcer and Riley from the SUV, Turner said.

Vehicles were diverted through the casino’s parking lot from Corriea Road to Sophus Road and back to the highway by the Longhouse Market and Deli to go around the scene.

Turner said traffic was allowed to pass through the scene around 5 p.m., and the Department of Transportation reports the highway was cleared at 6:08 p.m.

Clallam County Fire District 3 career firefighters from Sequim and Blyn, volunteer firefighters from Diamond Point, and Olympic Ambulance responded to the incident.

Limited visibility in the curve of the highway required that traffic control to be a coordinated effort between the agencies, Turner said.

Photo courtesy Chris Turner, Clallam County Fire District 3/ A semi-truck driver is uninjured after an SUV allegedly failed to yield while turning west onto U.S. Highway 101 from 7 Cedars Casino on Oct. 4. The SUV’s passenger was flown to Harborview Medical Center, and the driver was taken to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and later arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence, reports Washington State Patrol.