One dead in Montezuma Flats head-on crash

The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office reports that Deputies investigated a two car personal injury motor vehicle accident on Sunday afternoon at 1:09 pm on State Route 5 in the “Montezuma Flats” in the Town of Tyre.Deputies report that a 2007 Ford F350 driven By Ralph C. Brown, age 58 of 37 Wintergreen Point in Oswego, as well as his passenger Debora J. Backus, age 62 of the same address, were westbound on Route 5 when his vehicle entered the eastbound lane striking another vehicle head-on.Deputies report the driver of the other vehicle died at the scene.Brown was transported by Lifenet air ambulance to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, where he was admitted and is being treated for a broken hip and minor facial injuries. Backus was transported by North Seneca Ambulance also to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse and was admitted and is being treated for knee, shoulder and facial injuries.The name of the other driver is not being released at this time pending notification of family members.Both vehicles were demolished and were towed from the scene.Deputies state the investigation is ongoing.Route 5 was shut down for approximately 6 hours while the accident was investigated by the Sheriff’s Office accident reconstruction unit. Assisting at the scene were the following agencies: NYS DEC, NYS Park Police,NYSP, Seneca Falls Police Dept, North Seneca Ambulance,Rural Metro Ambulance, Fingerlakes Ambulance, Cayuga ambulance, Lifenet, Magee VFD, Montezuma VFD,Junius VFD,Seneca Falls VFD, Aurelius VFD,Waterloo VFD and the Seneca County Fire Coordinator.