Oceanside CA- Four people had to be airlifted, by three air ambulances, to local trauma centers after a head-on crash involving two vehicles and a motorcycle on Douglas Drive, just south of Festival Drive near the Oceanside Golf Course.

The call came in around 7:30 p.m., as a traffic collision and was upgraded to a rescue traffic collision “meaning people were trapped” according to Captain David Parsons with the Oceanside Fire Department. They arrived on the scene to find two heavily damaged vehicles with a motorcycle on the ground between the two cars. “At that point we began to extricate three people from the two vehicles.” Parsons continued “and the motorcyclist on the ground, so four total patients.”

Parsons said the extrications were more difficult than usual due to the heavy front end damage to both cars “There were major intrusions into the patient compartments of both vehicles and the passenger doors were badly mangled” explained Parsons. Firefighters used the ‘Jaws of Life’ and power tools to cut the roofs off and pop the doors of both vehicles so medics could have access to the victims.
There were two people extracted from a black Nissan Sentra and one from a black Toyota Scion. The investigation is very preliminary but a police department spokesman said it appeared the the Sentra was traveling south on Douglas Drive with the motorcycle and Scion traveling north when the collision occurred.

Captain Parson said that this particular portion of Douglas is a problem for the fire department. “It was the second major extrication here, that I’ve been on, in three days.” Parsons explained that there are no traffic lights on Douglas from Vandegrift to North River Road except for one side street and speed is a problem in the area.
There is no word on the condition of the people involved in the accident at this time. Douglas Drive remains closed from Festival Drive to Keyport Street as the police conduct their investigation.

Photos and video: Steve Marcotte / OsideNews