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SALT LAKE CITY — A Duchesne County man died and three other people were injured in a head-on crash that closed U.S. Highway 40 near Strawberry Reservoir on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Utah Highway Patrol officials said Ryan Harvey, 39, of Myton, died in the crash.
Emergency crews responded to a report of a crash on U.S. 40 near the reservoir about 9 a.m., UHP officials said in a statement.
Troopers said a red Ford pickup truck hauling a trailer loaded with flooring product was traveling east on the highway when it lost control and crossed into oncoming lanes, colliding head-on with a white GMC pickup truck. Both vehicles then went off the north side of the road.
Harvey, who was driving the GMC truck, died at the scene. A female inside the GMC truck was taken to a hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, UHP officials said.
Officials said both occupants of the Ford pickup were transported to a hospital in critical condition. Their names and ages were also not released.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but troopers said there was intermittent heavy fog at the time of the crash and the highway was also icy. Officials had tweeted medical helicopters were requested but couldn't fly to the scene due to fog.
However, UHP Sgt. Nick Street said the medical helicopters were able to land 10 miles from the crash. The patients were driven by ambulance to the helicopters and then flown to a hospital.
UHP officials added that speeds too fast for the conditions and poor tire treads were being investigated as possible factors in the crash.
The crash closed the highway from Chicken Creek to near Currant Creek for several hours while crews investigated the crash. but officials were able to open a lane for traffic shortly after noon. The remaining lane reopened later in the afternoon.
