Speedway crash stuns spectators

Spectators at the Late Model Challenge 2000 race at Spanaway Speedway on Saturday recall the bright flames that lighted up the night sky. The crash that caused the fireball was terrifying.

Last night two of the drivers were at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Mike Easley of Olympia remained in critical condition, and Ken Longley of Seattle was in serious condition; both had burns on their faces and torsos, a nursing supervisor said.

The Mireles family from Kent was at Spanaway along with more than 2,000 spectators for the 10 p.m. main event, which boasted a $10,000 purse. Diane Mireles said she had just settled in with her husband, Kevin, and sons, Kyle and Bryce, on the bleachers in the VIP section.

"It had just started, and the cars were going into the second lap of 150" on the suburban Tacoma track, Mireles said.

Suddenly a car rear-ended another, Mireles said. Another car flew over those cars, and a fuel cell was ripped open, drenching the track with fuel and blocking the passage of other cars. Four cars burst into flames, and the drivers were immediately engulfed in fire.

Mireles recalls watching Easley climb out of car 75, which was in flames.

"We were in total shock," Mireles said. "No one could believe it happened. This was just terror. You kept waiting for it to be over."

Mireles tried to cover the eyes of her 3-year-old son, Bryce.

Photographer Jon Bodwell was first to reach the most seriously burned driver and tried to put out the flames with an extinguisher.

"I could see his eyes inside the fire. He was yelling, `Please save my life, save my life,' " Bodwell told KOMO-TV.

The two injured drivers wore fire-protection suits, but when they followed proper procedure by rolling on the ground, they rolled in spilled fuel and fed the flames, the Pierce County Fire Marshal's Office said.

Mireles said some spectators tried to help by throwing bottles of water and ice chests onto the track. Others began to pray.

The flames, which had shot up as much as 30 feet from the wreckage, were extinguished in about three minutes.

The fire was already out when Pierce County firefighters arrived on the scene six minutes after the 911 call. Firefighters treated the two drivers for burns and helped take them to the hospital, said Capt. Doug Willis, of Central Pierce Fire and Rescue.

Longley and Easley were flown to Harborview. Two other drivers, who suffered minor injuries, were treated at the track and taken to a closer hospital.

"One guy, as he was being put in the ambulance, waved to the crowd, kind of `I'm alive,' and everybody in the crowd was cheering and clapping," Mireles said.

Spanaway Speedway is a quarter-mile asphalt track. Managers say the fiery collision was the first major accident at the track in several years.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.