WSP investigates two fatal crashes south of Spokane on Friday

Two people died in separate car crashes Friday south of Spokane.

The first crash occurred at 10:56 a.m. when an Oklahoma City woman died after she was ejected from her 1998 Ford Ranger on State Route 271 about four miles north of Oakesdale in Whitman County.

Dorothy L. Day, 57, was not wearing a seatbelt when she crashed the pickup, said Washington State Patrol trooper Jeff Sevigney.

Day was northbound on State Route 271 when her truck left the roadway. She over corrected her steering, crossed over the southbound highway shoulder and the vehicle rolled. She was ejected during the rollover and was transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center where she was declared dead, Sevigney said.

The second fatal crash occurred at 3:19 p.m. on U.S. Highway 195 at milepost 75, which is about 20 miles south of Spokane near Spangle.

The second fatal crash occurred at 3:19 p.m. on U.S. Highway 195 at milepost 75, about 20 miles south of Spokane near Spangle.

According to a news release from the WSP, 67-year-old Tim Simchuk, of Spokane, was driving southbound when he crossed the center line, colliding with a semitruck. Simchuk was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the semitruck, 81-year-old Emerson Grafmiller, of Colbert, was not injured in the crash.