Ephrata man injured in wreck

A 46-year-old Ephrata man was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Friday after the car he was in crashed and burned about 8 miles north of US 2 on SR-155 along Banks Lake.

The Washington State Patrol reported that Joshua J. Bessette, 46, had been driving north just after 7 a.m. when the 2008 Honda CR-V left the roadway to the right, struck a rock bank and rolled.

The Honda ended up in the ditch on the east side of the highway, where it caught fire “as a result of the collision,” the WSP report states.

Bessette was first taken to Coulee Medical Center “because he had been in and out of consciousness for a while, but then he got up and he was walking around the scene,” Trooper John Bryant told KPQ Radio.

After the adrenaline wore off, Bryant noted, Bessette was in worse shape than he’d thought, Bryant said, and was flown to Harborview.

He had burns to his left leg, possible fractures to his skull and spine, and a possible brain bleed.

It was not known whether the driver had been wearing a seatbelt.

The cause of the collision was under investigation.