Hay spills over road after serious injury crash on Highway 26 near Government Camp

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- A serious crash near Government Camp closed both directions of Highway 26 early Friday morning. The crash involved an SUV and a truck carrying hay and resulted in at least one person being taken to a hospital via a medical helicopter, according to authorities. Highway 26 has since reopened from Milepost 45 to Milepost 48 after a crash about five miles west of Government Camp, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. Oregon State Police said the crash happened just before 6:30 a.m. when a commercial vehicle crashed into an SUV. Serious injuries were reported at the scene and officials said that one person was taken to a hospital by LifeFlight. Officials had warned drivers there were no detours in the area and that the closure could last for several hours. One lane on the road finally reopened around 10:30 a.m., but some drivers were trapped for hours. “It said eight minutes on my phone when I had it on the GPS, so I was like, 'eight minutes no big deal,’ but then the guy told me it would be 3-5 hours,” Chris Bowers said. It was a rough start to the holiday weekend for travelers in the Mount Hood area. "This was supposed to be our day skiing; this is my day off,” Ehren Filippell said. “So, we're going to try to make it up there." Crews are still lining the highway. Traffic is moving in both directions as of 4 p.m., but ODOT says there is no detour and travelers should still expect to slow down in the area. "It's a very tight squeeze,” ODOT said in a statement. “That's a two lane highway in that section of Oregon, so please be prepared for a delay and drive very carefully and slowly through the crash site, because of traffic being in such proximity to each other and to crews working as a site." The crash remains under investigation.