UPDATE: Contrary to the original report from Sunday morning, the backseat passengers did not sustain injuries, but were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for evaluation. Likewise, the vehicle hit two — not one — power poles leading to a prolonged loss of power to some areas.

Just after midnight Sunday, a single vehicle left the road at the 22700 block of the Sumner-Buckley Highway between Buckley and Bonney Lake, hit a power pole, traveled approximately 150 feet and landed in a ditch. Two of the four occupants were thrown from the vehicle. East Pierce Fire and Rescue responded to the scene with three medic units and two engines.

While firefighters extinguished the small fire started by the downed power lines, other firefighters tended to the patients, transporting all four to area hospitals.

According to Acting Battalion Chief Brian Schulz, one of the patients sustained life-threatening injuries when he was thrown from the vehicle into a ditch.

“The firefighters had to perform a rapid extrication of the patient when the power lines shifted and were about to fall on the patient and crew,” Shulz said.

One other occupant was also thrown from the vehicle and sustained significant injuries. Schulz reports that the other patients had remained in the vehicle and received only minor injuries. According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies, not all of the occupants were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

The damage to the power pole caused a power outage for a short time throughout the Bonney Lake and Buckley area. Both lanes of the Sumner-Buckley Highway were closed for two hours during the operation.

The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the cause of the crash.