5-Year Old Girl Rescued From Burning Motorhome after Fatal Crash

Oregon State Trooper encounters motorhome in flames, that took two lives.

Crash occurred near I-5 milepost 206, on the off-ramp to the Oak Grove Rest Area. Photo: OSP

(LINN COUNTY, Ore.) - On February 24, 2016 at approximately 3:51pm an OSP Trooper on patrol encountered a crash that had not yet been reported on Interstate 5 southbound near milepost 206 (on the off-ramp to the Oak Grove Rest Area in southern Linn County).

The trooper discovered that a motorhome had struck the back of a parked commercial truck and trailer. As the trooper approached the crash, two witnesses from the rest area were running to provide assistance.

The trooper yelled into the wreckage and a 5 year old female cried for help. As the motorhome was on fire, the trooper used his fire extinguisher to knock down the flames.

The trooper and the two good samaritans then broke apart the side of the motorhome to reach the injured child. After the child was removed she was tended to by the trooper until medical crews arrived. The two good samaritans left the scene prior to being identified.

Preliminary information indicates a 1998 Tioga motorhome was traveling southbound on Interstate 5 when it took the off-ramp to the Oak Grove Rest Area. For an unknown reason, the motor home drifted out of the lane of travel and rear-ended a commercial truck and trailer which was parked on the shoulder.

The driver of the motorhome, 69-year old Sandra C Bishop, of Albany, was pronounced deceased on scene. The front male passenger, 26-year old Michael Bunten, of Bellevue, Nebraska, was also pronounced deceased on scene.

The juvenile female was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend for serious injuries.

The driver of the commercial vehicle, 36-year old Sergio A Valente, of Corona, California, was in the truck's sleeper birth at the time of the collision and was not injured.

OSP was assisted on scene by the Oregon Department of Transportation, Harrisburg Fire, Coburg Fire and the Linn County Medical Examiner's Office.

OSP is seeking the public's assistance in identifying the two witnesses who helped rescue the juvenile from the wreckage. Any person with information is being asked to call the Springfield Area Command at 541-726-2536.

Source: Oregon State Police