ASOTIN — A fatal vehicle wreck last week in Benewah County is going to impact completion of the new Asotin County Jail.
County Commissioner Chuck Whitman said three steel cells headed to the Clarkston Heights were destroyed in a recent wreck, and the manufacturer has said it will take several weeks to replace them.
“This impacts the schedule for the jail, and we’re now looking at February for completion,” Whitman said.
The head-on collision last week in Benewah County claimed the life of 45-year-old Destiny Martin, of Pullman. Her Ford Escape collided with a Volvo tractor trailer bound for Clarkston on U.S. Highway 95 near Tensed.
The driver, a 31-year-old man from Ohio, was critically injured in the crash, according to police. No updates on his condition were available.
The new $19 million Asotin County Jail is under construction along Sixth Avenue, across from the landfill. The structure is designed to house 144 inmates when completed, and will replace the jail now in use in downtown Clarkston.
The project was supposed to be done by the end of the year, prior to the wreck, officials said.
