3 killed in two Fayette crashes

Three people were killed in two separate accidents along Route 51 in Fayette County between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning, according to Fayette County’s coroner.

Britley Brashear, 31, whose address was not available, was killed Saturday afternoon when her vehicle hit a traffic signal pole along Route 51 near the Giant Eagle supermarket in North Union Township, coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly said.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, Reilly said.

State police at Uniontown investigated the crash, which was reported at about 4:30 p.m. Information from the state police was not available Sunday afternoon.

In the second fatal accident, a man and a woman were killed in a fiery crash along Route 51 near Smock around midnight Saturday.

The driver of the car, James Vollmer Jr., 21, and a female passenger who has not been identified, were killed in the accident when the car collided with a water-hauling truck, Reilly said.

The victims suffered trauma deaths, but the cause of death has not been determined, pending autopsies, Reilly said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Reilly said that a neighbor or passerby attempted to rescue the two victims from the vehicle, but they were unresponsive, the coroner said. The car suffered significant damage, Reilly said.

The driver of the water-hauling truck for natural gas drilling operations did not suffer life-threatening injuries, Reilly said.

State police have not released information about the accident involving the two fatalities.