Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — A Steamboat Springs man and his son were listed in fair condition Monday afternoon at Denver Health Medical Center, recovering from injuries they suffered in a one-vehicle accident Sunday morning north of Craig.

State trooper Doug Kline said 17-year-old Jake Reinier was driving the 2000 Dodge pickup about 10 a.m. Sunday when it left Colorado 13, hit a culvert and flew 42 feet in the air before rolling two and a half times. His father, Bob, 47, was a passenger in the truck. Both father and son were initially taken to The Memorial Hospital in Craig before being airlifted to Denver Health at mid-afternoon.

Kline said Jake Reinier apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The truck came to rest on its roof in the pavement with Bob Reinier's right leg pinned beneath it.

Jake Reinier was wearing a seatbelt, his father was not, authorities said.

Officials at Denver Health were not releasing details of the injuries to the two victims Monday afternoon. However spokeswoman Heidi Hattenbach said the fact that they were listed in fair condition meant neither was in intensive care, and neither was on life support.

Kline said he felt certain that Jake would not have survived the accident had he not been buckled in; the cab of the truck was crushed in on the driver side and the windows were blown out.

As it was, he suffered a head injury resulting from contact with the pavement. Both father and son were conscious at the scene when Kline arrived just minutes after the accident, he said.

"The truck was destroyed," Kline said. "It was absolutely totaled." He added that the highway was strewn with bow-hunting equipment and pieces of the truck.

"One of the wheels came off of the truck just because of the force involved," Kline said.

Kline was confident Jake was not speeding at the time of the accident because he and Sgt. Henry Chase had clocked the truck on radar at 62 mph in a 65-mph zone, just two miles north of the accident scene.

Kline said one piece of good fortune was that the first person on the scene was a northbound motorist who also was an EMT and administered first-aid. Kline did not know the EMT's name. Craig firefighters used extrication equipment to jack the pickup truck up and off of Bob Reinier, Kline said.

The father and son were believed to be returning home from Baggs, Wyo., Kline said.

Bob Reinier owns a taxidermy business in Steamboat.

To reach Tom Ross call 871-4210 or e-mail tomross@amigo.net