Conservation Corps Workers and Petaluma Driver Injured in Crash

By Bay City News Service

Five members of the California Conservation Corps who were en route to a trail restoration project in Marin County were injured in a crash on Lakeville Highway in Sonoma County Wednesday morning.

Eleven CCC members between the ages of 18 and 25 were riding in a Ford F-550 truck when the accident happened at about 10:30 a.m. The truck was heading north on Lakeville Highway southeast of Petaluma when it was hit by a southbound Ford F-150 truck.

It appears that the driver of the Ford F-150, Carlos Garcia, 47, of Petaluma, drifted across the double-yellow line and struck the left side of the truck carrying the workers, California Highway Patrol Officer Job Sloat said. 

The F-550, which had been modified to accommodate passengers, overturned and came to rest on its right side, Sloat said. 

The Ford F-150 was badly damaged on its left side, and came to rest blocking both lanes of the highway, Sloat said. 

Garcia suffered major injuries and had to be extricated from the vehicle. He was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. 

The passengers in the CCC vehicle and the driver, John Goodwin, 43, of Cool, Calif., were extricated and given initial treatment at the scene, Sloat said. 

Five of the workers were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Petaluma Valley Hospital with minor to moderate injuries, Sloat said.

Susanne Levitsky, spokeswoman for the CCC, said the nine men and two women in the F-550 were traveling from the Greenwood Center in rural El Dorado County to Samuel P. Taylor State Park near Lagunitas. 

The crew planned to camp for eight to 10 days during a trail maintenance project, Levitsky said.

The collision closed Lakeville Highway until 1:10 p.m., Sloat said. 

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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