STEUBEN COUNTY, Ind. (WOWO) – A serious crash on Saturday in Steuben County killed a man and hospitalized another.

Around 6:40 p.m., Steuben County police were called to the area of US 20 between CR 800 W and CR 900 W in rural Jackson Township on a report of a head-on collision. It was also reported that at least one of the vehicles involved was on fire. Upon the arrival of first responders, the fire was quickly extinguished by the Salem Township Fire Department.

Initial responding deputies located a blue SUV in the middle of the roadway facing south and a black pickup truck on the south shoulder facing east, both vehicles with heavy front-end damage. The driver of the blue SUV, 91-year-old Lester Merkle, of Ohio City, Ohio, was dead inside the vehicle.

Preliminary crash scene investigation indicated that Merkle’s vehicle was traveling westbound on US 20 and drifted left of the center line into the path of the eastbound black 2014 Ram 1500 pickup truck, driven by 65-year-old Lorene Fuentes of Angola. Fuentes attempted to avoid the crash by steering to the right but was unable to, and both vehicles collided head-on.

Fuentes sustained lower leg, arm, and possible internal injures and was transported to a Steuben County hospital in serious condition before being flown to a Fort Wayne area hospital by the Samaritan helicopter for treatment. Merkle was pronounced dead at the scene due to apparent blunt force trauma by the Steuben County Coroner’s Office.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash at this time. Seatbelts were in use and airbags did deploy.  The roadway was damp at the time of the crash which remains under investigation by the Steuben County crash investigation team.