Washougal track worker seriously injured?

Years ago at Hangtown I saw a big guy get cleaned out by a bike at the start. The good news is he never saw it coming but the bad news was they took the guy away in a meat wagon.

It was Brian's brother Bruce. This is from Brian on Facebook.

5pm Update:
Bruce has been in Surgery since 1:30pm this afternoon - Surgeon and Staff just updated us...He will likely be in surgery another couple hours...
In addition to the Broken Arm, Broken Pelvis, Fractured Ribs - His Spleen was Removed, the Tears in his Diaphragm have been repaired and bleeding was stopped - NOW they are working to stabilize a fracture near the Thoracic area in his back...Thanks so much for all the Thoughts and Prayers, our Family is totally humbled by your support...
We ALL Love Motocross and Thank GOD for Looking after Bruce, Keep You Posted - Keep Praying......
NOTE: Probably won't be at the Track tomorrow to announce - Ride Safe and Good Luck...

Just to clarify, it wasn't Brian, it was his brother Bruce. He is currently in surgery at OHSU.

It was longtime announcer Brian Barnes brother Bruce.

Honda privateer in the mid 80s...I believe he qualified for a few Nationals. Real shitty deal. He was racing the 250 2 stroke support class at the 125 Dream Race at Washougal in 2012 and broke his neck but seemed to be recovering. From what I'm seeing on fb he got busted up pretty bad by a bike coming off the track today.

Thank you for the clarification. My bad.

Wow terrible prayers sent

Sucks for the entire Washougal family to have this happen. Wish Bruce a speedy recovery!

Hate to hear this, praying he'll be ok.

best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Pat

My dad has been friends with Bruce for years. Great guy, and fast on a bike. That's too bad. Every year he loves spraying the beer garden with water and listening to the people cheer for him.

hes a super cool guy. I was at that race. hes always had really nice bikes too like that 2 stroke he raced. one of the cleanest ive ever seen. he pretty much gave up riding after the accident and just supports his son now. hope hes feeling better soon

That sucks good luck Bruce.

That's him on the left, goofing around this morning, and getting his flex on.



Sucks to hear. Here's hoping for the best.

Bummer, thoughts and prayers for his recovery

Positive thoughts and prayers for all involved.

Dang man get well Bruce.

Gosh! Prayers going out to Bruce and his family.

wishing him a quick recovery

GuyB took this not long before the incident. I saw Bruce doing this flex and thought, "What the heck is he doing?" Then I saw GuyB and understood. Totally a Bruce thing to do. We have worked the S turns together during the National for about 10 years, watering, removing rocks, etc. I left Bruce there for a few minutes to go get drinks and as I was walking back, Ryan Huffman cleared a path in the road for an ambulance to get by yelling that Life Flight was coming. I hadn't been gone 15 minutes. When I got back to the S turns, I didn't see Bruce. I figured he was up watering the uphill or something similar. I watered without him and still he didn't show up. I thought is was a bit odd because he is like a fixture there. He brings his quads and basically sets up camp. It was only when I went up the hill and my stepson said, "Did you see what happened to Bruce?" I said, "No, what happened?" (With Bruce, you just never know.) He said, "He got hit by a motorcycle and broke his arm. They even took him off on a stretcher." I was confused because I was not gone very long, and knew Bruce would probably have continued to water with a broken arm. (Only semi-kidding.) Then I started to talk to witnesses and put the picture together of what really happened. I texted the news to my wife who then gave me Brian Barnes updates from the hospital. It was very difficult to be in there without my S turns partner of 10 years today, and he was on my mind every second I was watering and taking care of OUR area. I feel in this life that I have 5 brothers, and Bruce is one of them.

That sucks to hear, we had a flagger get hit a few years ago, scary stuff.

Get well soon Bruce....thoughts are with ya.

Get well soon Bruce

Get well soon Bruce!

By Mark Bowder and Paul Valencia

Published: July 26, 2014, 2:41 PM

Updated: July 26, 2014, 8:04 PM
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A Vancouver man working as a track worker at Washougal MX Park was critically injured Saturday when he was struck by a motorcycle that had gone off the track.

Bruce Barnes, 49, suffered broken bones and internal injuries in the morning crash during the Washougal MX National event, according to a bulletin from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Barnes was treated by paramedics on the scene and taken by ambulance to an established evacuation point, where he was transported by a Life Flight helicopter to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. He was later transported to OHSU Hospital in Portland.

He was conscious and talking to medical personnel, according to Ryan Huffman, the track manager of Washougal MX Park.

With more than 20,000 fans clogging traffic routes at this annual event, officials determined it was more beneficial and timely to transport the injured man via helicopter.

Barnes was reported in critical condition after the crash, but a CCSO bulletin Saturday evening said his condition had been changed to stable.

Sounds like a great guy. Hope he it's feeling better as soon as possible.

Man this sucks. Best wishes to him and his family. Prayers for all.

Damn this sucks! I wasn't sure exactly where Bruce got hurt. At first I thought it might of been the wreck me and my buddy saw by the end of the whoop section / finish line.A guy had gotten all out of shape , blew off the whoops and THROUGH the fence like it was noting. He hit the crowd and and I saw a good 5 - 6 people get knocked on their ass. I didn't see any serious injuries or whatever.....but man it was crazy.

Sounds like Bruce is going to be ok. Been quite a few years since I've talked to him , but I used to race a lot of 250B and +30A stuff with him. We had some great battles at PIR over the years.

Stoked to see he's Stable.

I hope he heals quick and gets his Flex on.

Please heal quickly Mr Barnes. Thanks for all the track help throughout the years while we travel around to strategically placed beer gardens, enjoying the heck outa that awesome place.