Three people suffered major injuries Saturday in a head-on collision between a pickup truck and an SUV on Highway 154 near Los Olivos, according to the California Highway Patrol.
One patient with critical injuries required extrication after the crash west of Foxen Canyon Road, according to Capt. Daniel Bertucelli of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Personnel from the county Fire Department, the CHP, the county Sheriff’s Office and American Medical Response were dispatched to the incident around 10:50 a.m., Bertucelli said.
The collision involved a Chevy Silverado driven by a 69-year-old Los Olivos man and a Chevy Blazer driven by a 37-year-old San Franciso man, the CHP said.
The Silverado was headed west when, for unknown reasons, it drifted into the eastbound lanes and slammed into the Blazer, the CHP said.
Both drivers suffered critical injuries, as did a 37-year-old male passenger from San Francisco who was in the Blazer, the CHP said.
A second passenger in the Blazer — a 38-year-old San Francisco man — sustained minor injuries.
The county Air Support Unit’s Copter 3 landed on the highway to pick up one of the critically injured patients for transport to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
The other victims were transported to Cottage Hospital by ground ambulance, Bertucelli said.
The names of the injured and details on their conditions were not available.
A section of Highway 154 near Los Olivos was closed for approximately an hour while emergency personnel were at the scene, causing traffic to back up on Highway 101.
CHP officers were investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.