Hyatt Walbert, Dwaine Merchant injured, transported to hospital, after car crashes into tractor-trailer diesel tank starting fire.

A fiery two-vehicle crash Thursday morning in Polk County seriously injured one driver, wounded another and destroyed a truck, Oregon State Police said.

Police said the crash occurred around 6:33 a.m. on Oregon 99W near Stapleton Road, south of Monmouth when a northbound 1989 Mazda MX6 crossed the center line and struck the left side of a 2004 Freightliner truck and the first of two semi-trailers loaded with lumber.

The crash ripped the diesel tank off the left side, police said, spilling fuel onto the highway and sparking a fire that burned the truck to the ground.

The driver of the Mazda, Hyatt Walbert, 29, of Corvallis, was seriously injured. Firefighters extricated her from her car and she was transported to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis.

The driver of the truck, Dwaine Merchant, 65, of Tillamook, received minor injuries and was taken to an area hospital, police said.

Fire crews from Dallas and Polk County Fire District No. 1, Oregon State Police troopers from Salem and McMinnville, the Polk County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon Department of Transportation all responded to the scene. The crash and investigation closed the highway for about three hours.