Two-car crash in Bear Country leads to closure of Highway 16 | News

Early Saturday afternoon, there were major traffic jams on Highway 16 west of Rapid City following a two-car crash in Bear Country.

The accident occurred shortly after 1:00 p.m. and resulted in a complete closure of Highway 16 for almost two hours. It was a T-bone accident with several injuries and a possible entrapment.

Arriving rescue crews from the Rockerville Fire Department quickly determined that it was a multiple-injury accident with one person trapped. They initially called four ambulances as well as Pennington County Search and Rescue and Rapid City Fire Truck Six to free the trapped person.

In total, they transported eleven patients – including a few small children – with injuries of varying severity to Monument Rapid City Hospital. In addition to the four ambulances from Rapid City, the ambulances from Keystone and Hill City also transported patients.

Rockerville Fire Chief Gail Schmidt told NewsCenter1 that drivers need to be patient on Highway 16 this summer. She said there is a lot more traffic on the road due to the closure of Highway 385.

Schmidt also said that in accidents like Saturday’s, it’s important to be patient with emergency responders. The decision to close Highway 16 was not made lightly, but it was necessary to get patients loaded into ambulances and on their way as quickly as possible.

Westbound traffic was diverted from Reptile Gardens to Neck Yoke Road.