A REACH helicopter takes off from Upper Lake County Park at around 5:30 p.m. following a crash a short time earlier on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. Photo by Mike Smith.

NORTHSHORE – The Northshore's stretch of Highway 20 saw two serious crashes on Wednesday afternoon.

The crashes occurred near Nice and Upper Lake, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The first crash occurred around 1:45 p.m. near Ceago Vinegarden, outside of Nice and west of Lucerne.

Two vehicles were involved – an older model silver Ford Ranger and a green Ford Taurus. Reports from the scene explained that the pickup had put on its brakes quickly and the Taurus hit the back of it.

The highway's westbound lane was closed for about 45 minutes as Northshore Fire personnel and CHP responded to the scene.

Major injuries resulted, with a helicopter landing nearby to transport the injured. But CHP and Northshore officials were unavailable to give further detail late Wednesday, in part because they were shortly on their way to another crash scene.

The second crash occurred shortly before 4:45 p.m. near Upper Lake. Reports indicated a vehicle pulled out in front of a Dodge pickup towing a travel trailer.

A helicopter was once again summoned to transported injured from the crash.

Northshore Fire Chief Jim Robbins had to have players leave the soccer field at the nearby county park so the helicopter could land.

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