UPDATE: National Guard on scene to help in double fatality

CANTWELL — Nobody walked away from the wreck that shut down the Parks Highway Thursday and claimed the lives of two Valley residents.

According to Alaska State Troopers, A GMC pickup and a Hyundai Sonata collided near Mile 178 Parks Highway shortly before 1:30 p.m., closing the highway until 7 p.m.

In the Sonata, Donna Vaughn, 56, of Palmer and her granddaughter, Coral Hammond, 14, died on scene. Vaughn’s husband, Donald Vaughn, 60, and Hammond’s sister, 7-year-old Maziy Hammond, were taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage for treatment.

In the GMC, driver Ann Peeples, 68, of Palmer, was flown to Alaska Regional Medical Center. Her two passengers, Deborah Gilcrest, 61, of Anchorage and Doris Thomas, 41, of Palmer were taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.

According to the Alaska National Guard, two guardsmen provided first aid to the victims as they waited for borough medics and rescuers to arrive. The accident scene, the National Guard reports, was 90 miles from help.

“We saw a pile of vehicles on the side of the road,” First Lt. Jim Yeo says in a National Guard press release. “We pulled over the (Civil Support Team) vehicle and turned the emergency lights on, when someone came up to ask us if we knew CPR.”

Yeo and Maj. Michael “Doc” Jones, a physician’s assistant, were heading from Fairbanks to Anchorage with a load of pharmaceuticals for their role with the Civil Support Team. It’s a trip they make once every two or three years.

Yeo said in the press release that he and Jones assessed patients and worked with 911 operators. They also called in helicopters to get the patients out quickly.

“It was a true multi-agency response and credit to all the people who stopped to assist. People we’re digging out the cars, blocking traffic, assisting the victims and doing whatever they could to help,” Yeo says in the press release.

One lane of the highway was opened at 7 p.m., with traffic fully restored by 9 p.m.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.