WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — Emergency crews from Schuylkill County were called out Tuesday morning to a deadly crash east of Pine Grove.
State police tell us Mary Reed, 81, of Pine Grove was killed in the crash just after 8 a.m. on Sweet Arrow Lake Road in Washington Township.
The straight section of Sweet Arrow Lake Road in Washington Township looks easy to navigate, except for a sheet of ice, a sheet of it a few inches thick.
“When they hit these ruts in the ice, it throws the cars quite a bit.”
Police say Reed was sitting in the front passenger seat with one daughter driving and another daughter in the back when they hit the ice, lost control, and crashed into this tree. The daughter in the backseat, Annie Reed, is in critical condition at Hershey Medical Center. Police say none of the women was wearing seat belts.
State police say it was this thick patch of ice that caused the driver to lose control of the car. But neighbors who live around there say this ice is here every year, and it’s always a problem.
“There’s cars that do lose control and lose their hubcaps. They fly off. So it was just a matter of time when this here happened,” said neighbor Charles Hoover.
Neighbors in Pine Grove Township who know the family are mourning the loss of Mary Reed.
“When it’s somebody in the neighborhood, and you know them so long, it’s almost like a sister,” said neighbor Nathan James Kintzel.
Wayne Kintzel says Annie Reed and her siblings live across the street and help him with his farm. But he says Mary Reed was the lady of the house.
“She’s sort of the hub of the place there, and we just were wondering how they’re going to do now without her,” said neighbor Wayne Kintzel.
Sweet Arrow Lake Road is a state road, but PennDOT didn’t have any specific comment on the condition of the roadway during the deadly crash.
