Oregon Paramedic, 3 Children Killed

COTTAGE GROVE -- From the emergency responders dispatched to the wreck that killed Nancy Jeneane Wooden and her three children to people around town, most people either knew the Dorena woman or knew of her.

The firefighters and paramedics who responded to Tuesday morning's crash were stunned when they recognized the driver as a former colleague.

Wooden, 28, had volunteered with South Lane Rural Fire and Rescue - then called the Cottage Grove Fire Department - while studying to become an emergency medical technician at Lane Community College.

Paul Hughes, a South Lane firefighter engineer, had worked with Wooden at the department and at a private ambulance company in Roseburg. He responded to Tuesday's wreck.

"We didn't know who it was when we were sent out there," Hughes said. "Once we figured it out, it was hard. But we had a job to do at the time."

Wooden and her daughters, Rebecca, 9, and McKenna, 6, were pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck on Shoreview Road near Dorena Lake. Her youngest daughter, 3-year-old Theresa, survived the impact but died a short time later at Cottage Grove Community Hospital.

The Lane County Sheriff's Office has ruled the crash an accident, Lt. Randy Smith said.

Wooden lost control of her Honda Accord as she rounded a rain-slicked curve on Shoreview Road about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday. The tail end of the car swung into oncoming traffic and was struck by a dump truck owned by the Umpqua National Forest.

The truck driver, Lester Lauridsen Jr. of Springfield, was uninjured, although a spokeswoman for the forest service said he was badly shaken up by the collision.

Lauridsen said he didn't want to talk about the crash when reached by telephone Wednesday.

"I don't have a lot to say right now," he said.

Wooden was employed by WEST Ambulance in Roseburg at the time of her death.

She was a paramedic supervisor who responded to calls while overseeing the company's ambulance crews, operations manager Teresa Mutschler said. She worked for WEST after leaving South Lane, and rejoined the company last August following a stint as a career firefighter at the Milton-Freewater Rural Fire Department.

"Everybody has been devastated," Mutschler said. "She's got a lot of friends here."

A few miles from the accident scene, Jennifer McCown, an employee of Killion's Market on Row River Road, was a high school classmate of Wooden's at Cottage Grove High School, where Wooden graduated in 1996. McCown said ambulances frequently are called to accidents along Shoreview Road.

"That's a real windy road," McCown said. "I've got two kids, and it terrifies me when I get in the car and drive that road."

Jacque Hoobler of Cottage Grove stopped off at the market Wednesday night. The tragedy hit close to home for Hoobler, who works with Wooden's brother at the Wal-Mart in Cottage Grove.

"They're really cool people," she said. "It's really unfortunate."

Kerri Mollenko, a chef at Aromaz Cafe on Main Street, said she was saddened to hear about the accident.

"I have two grandchildren about the age of those kids," Mollenko said.

Wooden's three daughters will never experience the fullness of life, she said.

"They'll never know what it's like to fall in love, go to the prom or graduate from high school," Mollenko said.

Romney Taylor, who also worked at the cafe, said her heart goes out to Wooden's family.

"I know the whole town is sending their thoughts and prayers to them," Taylor said.

Wooden returned to the area after she and her husband divorced last year. Students were invited to write messages of condolence on a poster at the high school Wednesday.

A school district representative said she was home- schooling the two older girls.

She also was active with her church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove, friends said.