Three-vehicle crash injures six people

A three-vehicle pileup east of Kalispell landed six people in the hospital Thursday evening and closed Montana 35 for about an hour.

Evergreen Ambulance and Kalispell Ambulance transported five people in stable condition to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

One person was taken by private vehicle following the crash near the intersection of Fairmont Road and Montana 35 around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“Everybody that was in a vehicle got injured and was taken to the hospital,” Montana Highway Patrol Trooper David Mills said.

He said a westbound Oldsmobile Alero was attempting to make a left-hand turn from Montana 35 onto Fairmont Road just before 4:55 p.m. when it was rear-ended by a Chevrolet pickup, pushing it into oncoming traffic and causing it to sideswipe a Land Cruiser.

The driver of the pickup apparently had been falling asleep at the wheel and was cited for careless driving, Mills said.

He said everyone except for the two people in the pickup truck was wearing a seat belt.

All of the people involved in the crash were locals, he said.

The intersection was cleared around 5:45 p.m.