Fatal wreck on Clear Lake Cutoff

MCKENZIE BRIDGE: A motorcycle accident about five miles east of Belknap Springs took the life of a man last Saturday. Oregon State Police and first responders from the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire District responded at 2:19 p.m. to the report of a crash involving two motorcycles on Hwy. 126 near milepost 13 of the Clear Lake Cutoff. A caller told dispatchers the drivers were lying in the middle of the highway, blocking whole road.

In their initial investigation police reported a blue BMW K11 motorcycle was traveling eastbound and entered the oncoming lane, possibly to pass other motorists. The operator of a second motorcycle, a maroon Harley Davidson FLHTK, was making a left hand turn onto a Forest Service road near Olallie Campground when it was T-boned by the BMW.

Life-saving measures were undertaken by medical personnel who happened to be in the area but the rider of the motorcycle that turned suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Killed in the wreck was 60-year-old Karly Klassen of Springfield, the operator of the BMW. The rider of the second motorcycle, Brad Siegel, 68, of Tucson, AZ, was life-flighted to Riverbend Hospital in Springfield. Police interviewed him that night and he confirmed evidence from the scene. Officials at the Intensive Care Unit said Siegel was expected to survive.