County experiences several accidents and mishaps

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Wild weather and a variety of mishaps made for a very dangerous week in Emery County. A severe lightning strike took the life of Price man Joseph Louis Geiser on July 12.
On the Gentry Mountain, 84 year old Jim Jensen from Castle Dale was cattle herding when he was thrown from his horse. He was life flighted to Provo. He was found by Josh Riddle. Jensen’s injuries included three broken ribs, a fractured collar bone and abdominal bleeding.
At Cleveland Reservoir, Claudia Fossum from Fairview was fishing with some children. She backed the pick-up up to the reservoir so the children could sit on the tailgate to fish. She put the truck in park and got out of the vehicle. She also set the parking brake. A mechanical failure caused the vehicle to roll backward into the lake and it began to float out into the reservoir. The two children between 8-10 years of age jumped out of the pick-up and swam back to shore. The vehicle continued to float out approximately 100 feet when it nose dived and turned and the tires dug into a side hill. The vehicle stayed upright.
The dive team from the Emery County Sheriff’s Office was summoned to the scene where they dived in and secured a tow strap to the vehicle. Clayton Ward from Ward’s towing pulled the vehicle out of the reservoir.
A wreck occurred by the Emery High School when a driver fell asleep and went off the road.
An accident occurred on I-70 and injured parties were transported to Castleview Hospital.
An accident occurred near Emery when the Dean Stilson family was traveling southbound on SR-10.
A severe thunderstorm was putting down a large amount of water on the road. Two coal trucks were traveling northbound when the first one slowed down and the second truck apparently didn’t see the first one slowing.
The second truck hydroplaned and jack knifed causing the trailers to come into the southbound lane of traffic where it sideswiped the Stilson vehicle.
There were three children in the back seat at the time of the collision. The passengers suffered minor injuries.
The road in the area was flooded with water with some drivers reporting a foot of water on the road in places.