Crime & Safety
Union County, OR Crash: 65-Year-Old Airlifted After UTV Wreck
Union County, OR – A 65 year old man suffered serious injuries in a utility terrain vehicle crash in a remote section of eastern Oregon Wednesday, October 28, prompting a multiagency rescue operation
By Mara Ellison · 2026-10-30T10:49:50.142Z
Union County, OR – A 65 year old man suffered serious injuries in a utility terrain vehicle crash in a remote section of eastern Oregon Wednesday, October 28, prompting a multiagency rescue operation that required emergency crews to navigate steep terrain before airlifting him to a trauma center.
According to the Union County Sheriff 's Office, dispatchers received a report of the crash shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday near the South Fork of Catherine Creek, between Buck Creek Trailhead and Taylor Green.
Family members who reported the crash were not with the injured man but maintained radio contact with him.
Family Members Help Locate Injured Driver
Authorities said the family members followed the UTV's tracks to locate the man while emergency personnel traveled toward the remote crash site.
They then provided dispatchers with precise location information, helping rescuers reach the injured driver.
The Union County Search and Rescue team, sheriff's deputies, Union Rural Fire Protection District , La Grande Fire Department and Life Flight Network responded.
Approximately one hour after the initial emergency call, deputies reached the man on foot alongside a Life Flight crew that had landed roughly half a mile away.
Rescuers Carry Patient Up Steep Hillside
Emergency personnel located the injured man and wrecked UTV below an abandoned road grade.
Because of the difficult terrain, rescuers carried the patient up a steep hillside before transporting him approximately half a mile to the helicopter landing zone.
The route also involved navigating approximately 300 feet of vertical elevation change .
The injured man was then flown to a regional trauma center for medical treatment.
Authorities have not released his identity, the cause of the crash or an updated medical condition.
The Union County Sheriff's Office thanked the participating emergency agencies for their coordinated response.
The incident highlights the challenges emergency crews face when reaching injured people in remote mountainous areas of eastern Oregon.