A 23-month-old girl died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a Clark Public Utilities pickup truck on Northeast 59th Street just west of 137th Avenue, in the North Image neighborhood near Orchards.
At 3:20 p.m., paramedics and Vancouver police rushed to the scene, south of Fourth Plain Road and north of Image and Burnt Bridge Creek elementary schools, said Firefighter-spokesman Jim Flaherty with the Vancouver Fire Department.
The toddler was taken to a hospital by ambulance as three paramedics provided advanced life support, but she was pronounced dead soon afterward.
Flaherty relayed this account of the accident, which was provided by Vancouver Police Sgt. Pat Johns:
The driver was westbound on 59th Street when the girl ran in front of the pickup from the north side of the street. The area where the girl came from was paved, and there was a chain link fence, but Flaherty said the area was obscured with overgrown grass and blackberry brush.
The girl had been playing outdoors with other children prior to the accident.
Johns said via Flaherty that the driver, who stopped immediately, is not suspected of speeding or being intoxicated.
Names of the girl and the driver have not been released.
The driver is a field service representative who connects and disconnects electricity for customers and sometimes collects money owed, said Mick Shutt, spokesman for the utility. Employee assistance and counseling will be available for her, if needed, after the fatal accident, he said.
“It’s the only one that’s happened in my 32 years here,” Shutt said.
Officials closed 59th Street at 137th Avenue and to the west as the Traffic Unit of the Vancouver Police Department began its investigation.
Further information wasn’t available Wednesday night.
John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.
