Two people died in an accident involving a motor home and a pickup truck on the Kenai Spur Highway Wednesday afternoon.
The head-on collision between a class A motor home and the truck occurred between mileposts 2 and 3 on the highway, and caused traffic between Kenai and Soldotna to be rerouted along Beaver Loop Road and Kalifornsky Beach Road.
Late Wednesday, the Alaska State Troopers reported that Jerold Greer, 77, of Colorado, was driving a Ford F350 pickup northbound on the Kenai Spur Highway, along with his passenger Donna Greer, 71, of Colorado, when the vehicle crossed into the southbound lane. Troopers say the vehicle was struck head on by the motorhome, driven by Charles Wiesneth, 71, of Florida, along with his passenger Robin Wiesneth, 50, of Florida.
Jerold and Donna Greer were pronounced dead at the scene. Charles and Robin Wiesneth were taken to the Central Peninsula Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Central Emergency Services responded to the accident around 2 p.m., Central Emergency Services Captain Lesley Quelland said.
“We assessed the accident scene obviously to find out how many patients we had,” Quelland said of CES’s arrival at the wreck. “We initiated extrication from the pickup truck and also assessed the two adult patients who were in the motor home.”
The highway reopened around at 7:40 p.m., said Quelland.
Besides the accident being a head-on collision, Quelland said CES has no further information about the cause of the accident.
Alaska State Troopers are investigating the collision. Troopers say all occupants were wearing seat belts, and alcohol or drugs do not appear to be factors in the collision.
Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl said officers from his department were on scene to redirect traffic. Motorists trying to travel from Soldotna to Kenai were directed to a detour via Beaver Loop Road, Sandahl said. Motorists were not be able to get from Kenai to Soldotna along the Kenai Spur Highway, he said.
Sandahl said another Kenai officer was posted at the intersection of Bridge Access Road and Beaver Loop Road to handle potential congestion there.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.
