By JOHN EBY
Dowagiac Daily News

Cass County’s hottest day of the year proved also to be its saddest.

As temperatures touched 95 degrees, crashes at opposite ends of the county – one in Howard Township and another late in the afternoon in Jones almost in front of the Newberg Township fire station – left four people dead, including two motorcyclists who collided with a car.

A dog strapped to one of the bikes in a pet crate survived when the carrier was thrown clear in the early-afternoon crash on Barron Lake Road near Korn Street in Howard Township. A third cyclist escaped injury.

The later wreck cost two men their lives when the Volkswagen they were riding in shot southbound through the intersection at M-40 and M-60 and collided with a westbound pickup truck piloted, ironically, by a Howard Township firefighter, although not one who responded to the previous tragedy. The truck came to rest pointed east, toward Three Rivers.

The Jones crash killed the driver and rear passenger, although the passenger in the front seat survived. They were presumed to be headed south to pick up U.S. 12 since they lived east of Jonesville.

Sheriff Joseph Underwood reports his office responded to the fatal vehicle crash in Newberg Township at 5:13 p.m.

A vehicle driven by Howard Hawkins, 60, of Addison, was southbound when Hawkins failed to yield at the stop sign.

Hawkins’ vehicle was then struck by the westbound truck driven by Christopher Korp, 22, of Niles.

Korp was not able to avoid Hawkins’ vehicle.

Hawkins and a backseat passenger, Kenneth Fisher, 66, of North Adams, were pronounced dead at the scene from injuries suffered in the crash.

Deputies were assisted at the scene by Newberg’s fire and ambulance service.

The sheriff said alcohol was not a factor in the crash. Seatbelts were used.

The incident remains under investigation.