Update 12/19/2015 11:30am
State Patrol has released the identity of the person who died after colliding with a trooper’s parked vehicle on I-5 north of Ferndale yesterday. Sandra Clifford, age 72, of Blaine was traveling northbound on I-5 in a 2003 Buick LeSabre when the vehicle left the roadway and collided with Trooper Benjamin Ellis’ parked vehicle. Clifford died at the scene.
Update 12/19/2015 8am
The Washington State Patrol issued a press memo stating that a trooper’s vehicle had been rear-ended while at the scene of one of the accidents north of Ferndale. According to the memo, the driver of the vehicle that rear-ended the trooper died at the scene. Identification was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Trooper Benjamin Ellis, age 26, was sitting in his parked 2013 Chevrolet Caprice when it was rear-ended. Ellis was on the left shoulder on I-5 northbound at milepost 268 with emergency lights activated while investigating another collision at the time. Ellis was transported to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center.
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There are two significant motor vehicle accidents on I-5 northbound tonight, Friday, December 18th, worth avoiding.
One is in Bellingham just north of the Sunset Avenue interchange. As of 5pm traffic is backed up to the Samish Way interchange.
The other is just north of the Custer rest area. There is an injury accident on the left side and they are making use of the onramp out of the rest area to allow one lane of traffic to get past. The back up was about a mile long at 5pm.
UPDATE
There is another incident north the Custer rest area in the median blocking the left lane.