Eight hospitalized after three-car crash in Lake Forest

A three-car crash on Route 60 near the Lake Forest Compost-Recycling Center sent eight people to the hospital Saturday afternoon, officials said.

According to Lt. Andrew Allan, a paramedic with the Lake Forest Fire Department, the crash started as a head-on collision between an SUV and a sedan and the third vehicle was damaged when its driver tried to avoid the other cars and swiped the guardrail.

Allan said when first responders arrived at 2:37 p.m. - roughly six minutes after the crash - most of the people who had been involved in the crash had gotten out of their vehicles, but one person was trapped in the SUV and another was trapped in the sedan. Crews were able to pry open the doors and get people out of the vehicles without having to use extrication equipment, Allan said.

He said there were 10 people total in the three vehicles involved in the crash. The driver of the third vehicle was alone and the other nine people were split between the SUV and the sedan.

Four patients were taken to Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, three were taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, and one was taken to Highland Park Hospital. Allan said he did not know what the status was for any of the patients.

Allan said the crash blocked enough traffic on both sides of Route 60 that the fire department shut down the road between Waukegan Road and Conway Farms Drive, almost a milelong stretch of road. The crash site was declared under control at around 3:06 p.m.

Allan said he was glad that Lake Forest's first responders were assisted by emergency personnel from Libertyville and Deerfield who responded because of the departments' mutual aid agreement.