Contributed Photo An overturned pickup blocks Highway 38 Saturday afternoon, following a crash that killed one driver and injured six people.

One person died and six people were injured, including a Coos Bay couple, in a fiery crash Saturday on state Highway 38 near Scottsburg.

Oregon State Police troopers haven’t identified who died, though members of the community have said it was Heidi Johnson, a 2006 North Bend High graduate.

Lt. Gregg Hastings would not confirm that Johnson was the driver who died. He said police have a tentative ID, though they are waiting for a medical examiner to provide confirmation.

“We are just trying to be careful,” he said.

The crash happened around 2:45 p.m. near milepost 20, when a westbound Toyota Sequoia driven by John Flaxel of Coos Bay was approaching three eastbound vehicles. The 72-year-old’s SUV crossed the centerline and sideswiped the first vehicle, a Ford F-150 pickup, driven by Konrad W. Kennelly, 50, of Port Angeles, Wash.

The Toyota continued into the eastbound lane and collided head-on with a second vehicle causing it to land off the highway where it caught fire.

The driver of a Chrysler minivan, Shirley A. Powell, 59, of Sutherlin saw the collision and steered to the right to avoid the Toyota. The minivan came to a stop off the highway in a ditch.

The vehicle that caught fire was extensively damaged. Its unidentified operator, presumed to be Johnson, died at the scene.

North Bend’s athletic director, Boyd Bjorkquist, said Johnson, who played soccer in high school, was a great kid to be around.

“She always had a smile on her face,” he said this morning. “Her teammates enjoyed her playing on their team.

“It was certainly, a tragic loss.”

The pickup came to a stop overturned in the middle of the highway. Kennelly and passenger Martha Xitco, 50, from Port Angeles had minor injuries. An ambulance took them to a hospital in Reedsport, OSP said. A Lower Umpqua Hospital spokeswoman said both were treated and released.

John Flaxel was taken to Lower Umpqua Hospital for evaluation and it was discovered he was bleeding internally. He was transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where a hospital spokeswoman said he was in fair condition this morning. His passenger, Joy Flaxel, age unknown, was transported by air ambulance to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Eugene, where she is in serious condition this morning being treated in an intensive care unit.

Shirley Powell and her passenger Evert Powell, 59, were transported with minor injuries to Lower Umpqua�  Hospital.

OSP troopers from the Roseburg Area Command office are continuing the investigation with the assistance of an OSP crash reconstructionist. Highway 38 was closed three hours before being opened to one lane. Highway conditions were wet.

Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Elkton Fire Department, Scottsburg Fire Department and ODOT assisted at the scene.