1 hospitalized in wood products truck crash near Ashland

Jul. 6—Southbound Interstate 5 is partially open after a crash between two commercial vehicles caused non-life-threatening injuries to one semitrailer driver and a plywood spill on the freeway.

At 6:26 p.m. Tuesday, Theresa Thompson, 58, of Albany, was driving an International semi that rear-ended a Freightliner truck underneath the railroad trestle near I-5 Exit 11, according to reports issued by Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

First responders including Mercy Flights paramedics rushed Thompson to a nearby hospital Tuesday after the crash, which required Thompson to be extricated from the vehicle. The Freightliner truck's driver, 50-year-old Kirpal Singh of Ontario, Canada, was uninjured in the crash.

Both trucks were loaded with wood products at the time — described as plywood and particleboard — causing the cargo to spill onto the freeway.

ODOT and tow company crews worked to move debris to the shoulder and set up a temporary detour at Exit 14 that lasted approximately 10 hours.

Southbound I-5 reopened Wednesday morning but was still reduced to a single lane as of noon.