Wife, son of Fairchild airman killed when train collides with pickup

The wife and teenage son of a Fairchild Air Force Base airman were killed Saturday morning when the pickup truck they were in was hit by a BNSF train near Medical Lake.

The pickup was southbound shortly before 9:40 a.m. when it collided with the westbound train at the Brooks Road crossing south of West McFarlane Road, according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

A news release posted on the Fairchild website later in the day stated the victims were members of the airman’s family. It said their names were not being released pending notification of relatives.

“We’re deeply saddened by the loss of these two members of our Fairchild family,” Col. Ryan Samuelson, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander, said in the release. “The loss of any member of our Air Force family affects us all. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those affected by this tragedy.”

The truck’s occupants were pronounced dead at the scene, the Sheriff’s Office release said. It said their identities would be released later by the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Brooks Road was expected to be closed to traffic between McFarlane and West Thorpe Road for most of the afternoon Saturday while Sheriff’s Office and BNSF personnel investigated.