A Miller City woman was extricated from her SUV and rushed to a Lima trauma center Saturday morning after a flatbed pickup pulling a trailer failed to yield at a rural Putnam County intersection, sending her vehicle rolling into a utility pole and cutting power to homes across the area. Nancy Niese was driving south on Road 12 when the crash happened at the intersection with Road E in Liberty Township, according to the sheriff’s office account carried by Your Hometown Stations.
The other driver, Hector Moreno of Gainesville, Florida, had been heading west on Road E when the two vehicles collided, per the same report. The impact sent Niese’s SUV into a utility pole, causing it the roll over. Neither Moreno nor his two passengers were injured, and he was cited for failure to yield.
Multi-Agency Response Pulls Niese From Wreckage
911 dispatchers received the call for the crash at 10:01 a.m. Saturday, according to a Putnam County Sheriff’s Office press release reported by LimaOhio.com. The Miller City Volunteer Fire Department responded to extricate Niese from the SUV, while Leipsic EMS handled transport, with additional scene assistance from Ottawa Heavy Rescue and Putnam County EMS. The intersection remained closed until 6:30 p.m. as crews worked the scene and made repairs.
Niese was taken to Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, roughly 25 miles north of the crash site, is the region’s nearest Level II trauma center, according to Your Hometown Stations. The 425-bed facility is verified by the American College of Surgeons and serves a 10-county region across northwestern Ohio, per Mercy Health.
Downed Pole Forces Hours-Long Outage Across Rural Roads
The collision that sent Niese’s SUV into the utility pole also triggered a broader electrical shutdown across the area. Repairing the damaged pole required a mandatory three-to-five-hour power outage affecting all properties north of the State Route 613 and Road 12 substation, including addresses along Road 12, Road E, and Road D, the same LimaOhio.com report notes. Crews eventually repaired the pole and restored power in the area…