Blaine crash involving ambulance sends 2 to hospital

Krystal Frasier KSTP

A traffic management camera shows the scene of a serious crash in Blaine, Minnesota on Saturday, July 22, 2023. Credit: MnDOT

A crash involving four separate vehicles – including an ambulance – has sent the driver and passenger of a motorcycle to the hospital with serious injuries.

According to a Minnesota State Patrol incident report, the crash happened Saturday shortly before 5 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 65 and 109th Avenue Northeast in Blaine.

The report says an Allina Ambulance headed north on Highway 65 had its lights and sirens activated, however the ambulance was then canceled while responding to a call. The report goes on to say staff inside the ambulance then received a separate call for service, and once again activated lights and sirens.

That’s when the driver of the ambulance tried to make a right turn to head east on 109th Avenue and hit a northbound Harley Davidson, according to the incident report.

The collision then resulted into a subsequent crash with a Honda Odyssey as well as a Subaru Forester.

The driver of the motorcycle, identified as 57-year-old Jeffrey Egge, as well as his passenger, 58-year-old Loretta Egge – both of Isanti – were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for life-threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, the two people inside the Odyssey and the one person inside the Forester weren’t injured. The ambulance’s driver wasn’t injured, however a passenger had non-life-threatening injuries.

The report goes on to say neither Jeffrey, nor Loretta, were wearing helmets at the time of the crash.

Saturday’s crash isn’t the first time an incident has been reported in that same area this summer – as previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, a 61-year-old man was hit by a van at that same intersection in early June.

Safety upgrades are being planned for Highway 65 – the state has invested more than $100 million for the roadway through transportation and bonding bills for a project that’s been discussed for more than 20 years. The current plan is to put in four overpasses on the highway from 97th Avenue to 119th Avenue.