Pickup Saved by Trailer Safety Chains in Crash at Malad Gorge

TUTTLE, Idaho (KLIX)-State police said safety chains on a trailer saved a pickup and the two people in it from plummeting to the bottom of a Magic Valley canyon Monday afternoon along Interstate 84.

According to Idaho State Police, emergency crews from across southern Idaho responded at around 2:42 p.m. to the Malad Gorge Bridge where a pickup could be seen hanging over the edge, dangling nearly 100 feet above the canyon floor by the safety chains on a camp trailer it had been towing. ISP said a trooper had arrived on scene as the accident was being dispatched to first responders. A truck driver provided chains and assisted the trooper with securing the Ford F-350 pickup until other emergency crews arrived. Special rescue teams with Magic Valley Paramedics were flown to the scene by Air St. Luke's and began efforts to rescue the two people in the pickup.

ISP said a 67-year-old man and 64-year-old woman from Garden City were in the pickup when it went over the edge. The pair had their seat belts on that kept them in place until Magic Valley Special Operations Rescue Teams rappelled down, placed harnesses on them and lifted them up to the bridge. From there, Air St. Luke's flew them to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. ISP said two dogs in the pickup were rescued as well and taken to a family member in the Magic Valley.

ISP said the Gooding County Sheriff's Deputies, Gooding County EMS, Gooding Fire Department, Gooding Rural Fire Department, the Jerome City Fire Department, Air St Luke's, Idaho Fish & Game, Jerome County Sheriff's Office all responded to the scene. The Wendell Fire Department and Idaho Transportation Department crews were also on scene.

This was a tremendous team effort that took a quick response and really showed the dedication and training of our community of first responders," said Capt. David Neth of the Idaho State Police District 4 in Jerome. "This is something we train and prepare for, but when it happens and people's lives literally hang in the balance, it takes everyone working together, and then some.

Traffic on eastbound I-84 had to be diverted for several hours off the interstate onto U.S. Highway 30 through Buhl.

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