UNION — Union firefighters, with the help of Washington firefighters, spent approximately half an hour working to extricate the single occupant of a Toyota RAV4 with out-of-state license plates, Monday night. Hope firefighters set up a landing zone for LifeFlight at the South Hope Community Church on Route 17, in easy walking distance from the South Hope fire station. 

Motor vehicle crashes are not uncommon along the windy, hilly North Union Road. Yet, seasoned responders have come to expect each crash to include one of those road elements. Eyebrows briefly raised on Monday night when the first official to arrive to a single-vehicle crash on that road reported that the scene was on a straight-away. 

The mystery of the straightaway location was solved by Knox County Sheriff's deputies, who were made aware of the crash at 9:19 p.m., Aug. 24, in the area of the 2400s section of North Union Road. The straightaway was only the end point. Skid marks traced the SUV's route back up a hill, around at least one bend in the road, to a grassy shoulder at the crest of the hill. 

Junk Yard Dog hauled the vehicle away.