A Maple Falls woman injured when long poles smashed through her windshield was upgraded from critical to serious condition Wednesday, July 11, said St. Joseph hospital spokeswoman Amy Cloud said.

Erin A. Bruns, 36, was driving her 2001 Toyota Camry westbound on Mount Baker Highway near Everson Goshen Road about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday when she rear-ended a trailer loaded with a large bundle of 27-foot "Tipi" poles, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary.

One of the poles hit Bruns in the head, Leary said, and the poles skewered the car, shattering the front and back windshields and trapping the woman inside. The rear-view mirror was impaled on the end of the poles out the back window.

Troopers listed the cause of the crash as "inattention." Charges were pending.