One person was killed in a head-on crash involving two semi-trucks north of Saranac on Wednesday.
The two semis a pickup truck were involved in the crash at the intersection of M-21 (Bluewater Highway) and Hawley Highway in Boston Township around 10:30 a.m.
The Ionia County Sheriff’s Office says its initial investigation showed that the southbound pickup pulled into the path of a westbound semi hauling two trailers of grain, causing a crash.
The grain truck tried to avoid the collision, crossing the centerline and striking an eastbound semi head-on. The driver of the eastbound semi, 47-year-old Anthony Nunez of Hudsonville, was killed.
The driver of the pickup, 40-year-old Lisa Thrush of Saranac, and her 18-year-old son, Hunter Thrush-Davis, were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the grain truck, 34-year-old Trevor Vanderwall of Hemlock, was not hurt.
The grain the first semi was hauling spilled all over the road. The intersection remained closed for some 11 hours as crews cleaned up and investigated, reopening around 9:30 p.m.
The crash also downed some power lines in the area, knocking out power to about 458 Consumers Energy customers, according to the company’s online outage map. Power was back to everyone before 4:15 p.m.
Between 2010 and 2015, there were 19 crashes at the intersection but none were fatal, according to Michigan Traffic Crash Facts.