Two killed in holiday accidents

Two Inland Northwest residents have died in Memorial Day accidents.

An 83-year-old man was killed in an automobile crash on U.S. Highway 395 near Deer Park and a man drowned while swimming in the Blanchard Reservoir in Bonner County, Idaho.

Avery E. Pyeatt of Gifford, Wash., was a passenger in a Buick that was hit Monday afternoon while trying to enter Highway 395 from Monroe Road. He was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center, but died.

According to the Washington State Patrol, the collision occurred when Deer Park resident Jerry E. Pyeatt, 57, stopped, but then failed to yield to a Mazda Protégé heading north on the highway. The 1994 Buick Century was hit on its left side.

Jerry Pyeatt was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was listed in satisfactory condition Monday night.

The driver and passengers of the Mazda, Wendi Farnsworth, 24, of Spokane, and her three children, were taken to Holy Family Hospital.

Farnsworth was listed in stable condition late Monday, and her children, Emmalynn, 4, Hyrum, 2, and Jarrom, 6, were treated and released. All six people were wearing seat belts.

The collision blocked traffic on Highway 395 for almost three hours.

Bonner County Sheriff’s Dispatch didn’t provide additional details about the man who drowned there, including his name.

Elsewhere in North Idaho, three Post Falls residents were lucky to escape injury when another boater struck their small fishing boat on Fernan Lake.

The three, Brad Platt, 36, his girlfriend Vanessa Moore, 33, and Brandi Reasor, 36, were fishing while drifting in a 12-foot aluminum boat on the east side of the lake.

According to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, an 18-foot Crestliner piloted by 38-year-old Coeur d’Alene resident Eric Nowoj ran into the smaller boat, despite its occupants’ warning cries.

Moore and Reasor were able to jump out of the boat before it was hit, but Platt was struck by the Crestliner and ejected.

None wore life preservers, and no one was hurt.

Nowoj was given a misdemeanor citation for gross negligent operation of his boat.

According to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, alcohol was not a factor in the accident.

And in Spokane, two little girls – one 4, one 6 – were saved from the Spokane River by a firefighter.

The two girls were riding their bicycles along South Riverton Drive, unaccompanied by an adult, when they decided to go for a swim and got into trouble on the river near Stone Street, said Spokane Fire Battalion Chief Craig Cornelius. They called for help, and a person on the other side of the river, near the Centennial Trail and Upriver Drive, phoned 911, Cornelius said.

A rescue boat was summoned but was unnecessary, since the girls were just five feet out into the river, holding on to a snag, and able to be pulled to safety from the shore.

Cornelius reminded water enthusiasts that those floating or boating on the Spokane River are required to wear personal flotation devices.

“If the Sheriff’s Department sees you without one, they will give you a ticket,” he said.