The Portsmouth Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, EMTs, and medical helicopters were busy Wednesday afternoon as two automotive crashes occurred within minutes of each other in the same area. In the first crash, a truck/semi-trailer tractor rig crash on Ohio 73 at mile post 22 in West Portsmouth resulted in a woman being airlifted to a Huntington, W.Va. hospital. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, a truck driven by Rhonda Blake, 46, pulled from a church parking lot onto Ohio 73 into the path of a southbound semi-tractor trailer rig, operated by Bryon Stamper, 53, of Piketon. Blake was flown by medical helicopter to St. Mary’s Hospital in Huntington. Stamper was uninjured. That crash is still under investigation. Minutes later, at Galena Pike and Washington Boulevard, a passenger truck reportedly ran a stop sign, broadsiding another truck. According to the OSHP, a vehicle driven by Paul Crump, 75, of South Shore, Ky., ran a stop sign and struck a truck driven by Edward Scott, 36, of Portsmouth. Crump was ejected from the vehicle and was flown to St. Mary's Hospital in Columbus. Scott was uninjured. That crash is also under investigation. Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com