Jefferson City woman killed in crash on US 54 near Brazito

Missouri Department of Transportation graphic
Missouri Department of Transportation graphic

A Jefferson City woman died from injuries sustained in a single-vehicle crash that closed down both eastbound and westbound lanes of U.S. 54 near Brazito on Monday morning.

U.S. 54 was closed at Quail Road, west of Brazito, for the crash, which occurred around 11:50 a.m., according to Missouri Highway Patrol reports.

Pamela Carsten, 68, of Jefferson City, went off the right side of U.S. 54, and her vehicle struck a tree at Gray Road.

She was flown by helicopter to University Hospital in Columbia, where she was pronounced dead shortly after 1 p.m. from serious injuries sustained in the crash.

She was wearing a seat belt.

Members of the Cole County Fire Protection District were called to the accident scene and shut down U.S. 54 so the helicopter could land on the highway. The road was closed until 1 p.m.

Shortly after they were called to the crash, Cole County firefighters received a call for a possible structure fire in the 11000 block of Shipman Road.

As they were already on the scene of the accident, fire district officials requested that crews from Russellville/Lohman and Regional West fire protection districts respond to the structure fire call.

When those fire crews got to Shipman Road, they found it was a flue fire and that the structure was not in danger. Crews stayed on the scene for a short time to make sure the fire was extinguished. No injuries were reported from the fire.

This article was updated at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 30, 2019, with new details.

EARLIER COVERAGE

U.S. 54 southwest of Brazito was closed to traffic temporarily during the noon hour today so that a helicopter ambulance could land at the scene of an injury accident.

Authorities shut down both the eastbound and westbound lanes of the divided highway near Quail Road so that the helicopter could use the roadway as a landing area. Traffic in both directions resumed before 1:30 p.m.

The Cole County Fire Protection District was called to provide extrication services at the scene of the crash which occurred shortly before noon.