Three honored for rescue efforts in fatal crash along U.S. 12

Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two set to appear online Monday at lmtribune.com.

———

GRANGEVILLE — Something didn’t sit right with Tyrone Hendren.

Earlier that August afternoon, the Kamiah man had been along U.S. Highway 12 and noticed what appeared to be an accident site along the shoulder, but no apparent signs of any significant debris or of the vehicle involved; he drove on. Coming back through 10 hours later, Hendren again came upon the scene, and decided to stop this time to investigate.

“There was a firearm,” he said, something unusual to find lying along the road, and with that in mind he went with his flashlight 10 to 15 feet through the trees down the embankment, “and I saw the bike, and thought, ‘Well, here we go. I gotta go down there.” He started calling out, and a girl cried out in reply. He asked if she was hurt and she replied, “Yes my leg is broken.”

Down a steep embankment with a young girl seriously hurt, on a desolate stretch of Idaho County highway with little vehicle traffic, and located in a dead zone for cell service, Hendren faced multiple challenges in rescuing this young accident victim.

But he wouldn’t be alone for long, and in the aftermath of the investigation, three heroes emerged who, at a ceremony in Grangeville last week, were recognized for their involvement in the girl’s rescue.

Hendren, along with father and son Paul Hanson, of Great Falls, Mont., and Taylor Hanson, of Grangeville, were presented a certificate of appreciation, as well as a challenge coin, recognized for their “heroism and selfless acts,” by the Idaho State Police at a Nov. 21 ceremony at the Idaho County Search and Rescue building.

“I want to thank each and every one of you,” said ISP Capt. Rich Adamson, District 2 Commander. “Truly, who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t stopped to get this 10-year-old out of there. I don’t know how long she would have survived. Your actions are a credit upon the State of Idaho and the assistance you gave to the Idaho State Police.”

Adamson noted the certificate, signed by ISP Director Col. Kedrick Wills, is the highest honor the agency can give to civilians who are not ISP employees. This is rarely presented, he added, and in this district he’s only done two during his service: “It’s a big deal.”

These actions related to an Aug. 11 fatality motorcycle crash reported 22 miles east of Lowell on U.S. Highway 12 in which Roger M. Meyer, 67, of Grangeville, died of injuries at the scene. The ISP report stated Meyer and his 10-year-old granddaughter were returning from the Lochsa Lodge, riding a 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, when around 12:30 p.m. he drove it off the roadway on the left shoulder and down the embankment. The bike sideswiped a tree, continued down the embankment, impacted another tree, and the pair was ejected. Meyer, who was not wearing a helmet, died of injures suffered in the crash, and the girl suffered a broken femur.

According to ISP, the girl crawled further down the embankment to the river’s edge to stay hydrated, and became more isolated and out of view from other motorists traveling the highway.

“Out of the group he (Hendren) was the hero,” Paul said, during the presentation, “because he knew something didn’t feel right. ... Had he not done that, where would we be today?”

Once Hendren reached the girl, he knew from search and rescue techniques he had studied to keep pressure off the leg.

“She seemed to be in little pain, and I asked her if she was ready to be moved,” he said, “and she was, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

The effort was difficult to move her through the steep, brushy terrain — “I was defeated, I was exhausted” — and after 20 minutes he went back to his vehicle where his mother was and asked her to flag down any traffic. First to stop was off-duty Meridian Police Officer Christopher LeFave, followed shortly after by the Hansons.

“We took a look at what we needed to do with what we had available,” Paul said. “OK, so we didn’t have a rope but we had tow straps, so let’s stabilize her,” and the men worked with these, along with a sleeping bag, to extract the girl up the embankment, and transferring her to LeFave’s vehicle for transport to Syringa Hospital in Grangeville.

“For me being a person of faith, I believe in Jesus, it is one of those things to listen to a small, still voice to turn around and go back,” Taylor said. “My belief was that God was on his (Hendren’s) life, that he needed to go back, and due to that, a series of events was orchestrated that we got to be a part of.”

— David Rauzi, The Clearwater Progress (Kamiah), Thursday

Port of Whitman County employees retire after 26 years of service

COLFAX — Port of Whitman’s Properties and Development Director, Debbi Snell, and Special Projects coordinator Joe Poire, are retiring after 26 years working at the Port.

Snell has been responsible for managing all of the property leases for the Port, and does project management, she noted that there were two big projects that she worked on in her career, “I helped Poire launch the ports telecommunication program, and I also lead on the rehabilitation of the Port of Whitman business air center.”

Poire has worked on broadband studies in the last year, “There’s quite a bit of activity since COVID for communities to get telecommunications,” Poire said, noting that people needed access to the internet to work from home. “That really heightened the interest, and different communities have applied for grants to have studies done for what would be the best way for their communities to access the internet.” Poire worked on those studies.

Both Snell and Poire have found their 26 years working at the Port rewarding. For Snell working on the airport was the project she was most proud of, “We’ve took the airport on from the county, and we’ve rebuilt,” Snell said, noting that they’ve encouraged private and public investment.

“Its been a very rewarding career,” Poire said, “I feel very blessed for having the opportunity to work there,” noting that there is really great people, and the Port does great things for the community.

“It is a job that when looking back over the years you can see the things we’ve built,” Snell said, “and the things we’ve accomplished have made a difference in the lives of people living in Whitman County.

After retirement Poire will go back east to see his daughter, “she lives in Boston,” Poire said.

Snell is excited to retire, “I’ll miss my colleagues here at the port,” she said, “I’ve been working here for a long time,” she noted that she wanted to give a huge thank you to the Port for a great 26 years.

— Teresa Simpson, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday