2 children, 1 woman in submerged SUV

LONG LAKE — At least two children and a woman were inside a black Toyota SUV that left the Glenn Highway and landed in a pond north of Chickaloon late Thursday afternoon.

The SUV — one of many accidents reported around the Valley as snowfall picked up during the after-work commute — had been submerged long enough for weather to obscure the tire tracks it left as it went into the water. An emergency call went out at about 4:40 p.m., according to dispatch communications during the response.

A passerby reportedly saw the vehicle’s lights visible beneath the water and called 911.

Cliff Silvers, chief of the Mat-Su Borough’s Dive Rescue Team, said that the pond was across the highway from Long Lake. Members of his dive team with suits to protect them when diving in cold water responded from all over the borough.

“The first responder there with a suit on was able to get the two children out of the car seats. They were still strapped in,” Silvers said.

By the time Silvers arrived on scene someone — he thinks probably a local — had attached a chain to the SUV and pulled it partially out of the water.

“Initially it was upside down,” Silvers said, but responders were able to right it.

Alaska State Trooper Spokeswoman Megan Peters said the troopers are on scene and investigating the accident, but so far it appears the Toyota lost control, left the roadway and went into the pond.

Silvers said “code was called” on both children and the woman on scene. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital medics started CPR on one or both of the children. Silvers said it’s unclear to him what prompted that.

Peters said as of 8 p.m. that troopers could only confirm the woman had died.

“There is one confirmed fatality — an adult female. Two juveniles were also in the wreck. Their status is unknown — transported to a hospital,” Peters wrote in an e-mail.

One thing that frustrated Silvers’ understanding of what happened is that nobody saw the SUV break through the ice. Which, for responders, means they don’t know how long the people were in the water — a crucial piece of information. Silvers said the tire tracks had been obscured — either by falling snow or by wind blowing snow that had already fallen — but that the car wasn’t down long enough for the ice to re-freeze around it.

Weather, he said, was almost definitely was a factor.

“The roads up here right now are atrocious,” he said as he traveled back to the core area of the Valley. Visibility was poor. Snow was setting up in drifts across the highway. “Twenty-five to 35 mph is all you can drive.”

Peters backed up Silvers’ assessment.

“The highway is closed for an unspecified amount of time. We encourage motorists to avoid the area. Driving conditions are not ideal and motorists are encouraged to use the utmost caution while driving in winter conditions,” the spokeswoman wrote.

The accident was one of many that kept emergency responders scrambling in the late afternoon and early evening hours Thursday.

An accident near the intersection of Lucille Street and Spruce Avenue left a vehicle in a ditch, and another at Vine and Shady Grove roads involved as many as six children, according to initial reports. The children were treated at the scene for various injuries and transported to local medical facilities. The injuries from that accident were not immediately reported as being life-threatening.