`Brownout' That Caused Deaths Caused By Drought

PENDLETON, Ore. - Walter Liebe wiped the tears and dust from his eyes. Eying a vehicle standing on its nose, its body crunched upside the back of a truck, Liebe slowly shook his head.

"It was our lucky day," Liebe, 76, said.

He and his wife Margaret walked away from Saturday's pileups in both lanes of Interstate 84 that killed six people, including three from Washington state, and injured more than 20 others.

When the Liebes left their Hermiston home Saturday morning, the sun was shining and the roads were clear.

A bit of blowing dust after harvest is almost expected. But shortly after 10 a.m., gusting winds had stirred up enough topsoil to cause brownouts along the freeway.

Denser than a winter fog, brownouts make even tail lights invisible. Drivers can become disoriented and confused.

"People don't know whether to stop and wait it out, or whether to keep driving," said Jim Stearns, fire chief for the Hermiston Fire Department.

The wheat fields surrounding Pendleton normally are dry this time of year, and freshly cultivated after the harvest.

But this year they were drier and dustier than usual. The Pendleton area has had only .01 of an inch of rain in September, down from an average half an inch for the month. It is 2 inches below its norm for the year.

In the worst of the brownout, Walter Liebe made a choice that probably saved his and his wife's lives.

"My recollection is that a vehicle ahead sideswiped the rear of that truck," Liebe said, pointing to the semi that had been hit by the car standing on its nose. "When the blue car hit the truck, it pushed it forward about 20 feet. I had been sitting beside the truck. But all of a sudden, it was ahead of us," Liebe told the East Oregonian newspaper of Pendleton.

"I noticed a fire," Liebe said. Turning the wheel hard right, Liebe shot out of the left-hand lane, through the right lane, straight up the sloping south shoulder of highway.

Traveling several cars behind Liebe, Doc Baysinger of Pendleton could hear the crunch of vehicles. He, too, headed up the south shoulder, where he watched as other vehicles headed into the accident scene. "I saw cars going 60 mph. They didn't even skid to a stop," Baysinger said.

Those killed included three from Washington state: Larry Camp, 64, Connell, Franklin County; Linda Miller, 52, Lacrosse, Whitman County; and Robert Lee Mauseth, 54, Pasco. Also killed were Wayne Doran Sweat, 52, Carey, Idaho, and Gregory Haggard and Virginia Campbell, 69, of Hermiston.

The eastbound lanes of I-84 were closed until 11:55 p.m. Saturday, more than 13 hours after the accidents took place. The westbound lane opened at 7:40 p.m. Traffic was detoured through Walla Walla.