NAUGATUCK — A two-car crash at Naugatuck Friday afternoon left one man dead and another in critical condition.

Longtime Williamson firefighter and high school baseball umpire Bobby Ryan was listed in critical condition early Saturday after he was severely injured in a two-car crash near Naugatuck in Mingo County around 4 p.m. Friday. Bill Hinkle of Taylorville, who was driving the other vehicle, was killed in the crash.

Ryan, a lieutenant with the Williamson Fire Department, was reportedly on his way from a doctor's appointment in Huntington to umpire a double-header at Chapmanville when the crash occurred, according to Williamson Fire Department Lt. Joey Carey.

One of the vehicles crossed the center line and struck the other head-on near the fish pond along U.S. Route 52 between Naugatuck and Kermit, Carey said.

Mingo County Chief Field Deputy James Smith said Hinkle was driving a Chevy Impala north on U.S. 52 at Naugatuck when he crossed the centerline and struck the southbound Dodge Avenger being driven by Williamson Fire Department Lt. Bobby Ryan of Williamson. Hinkle was pronounced dead on scene.

Kermit Volunteer firefighters used the jaws-of-life to extricate Ryan from his vehicle. He was then airlifted to Cabell Huntington Hospital.

"It looks as if Ryan tried to pull off the roadway to keep from striking Hinkle's vehicle," Smith said. "It appears as if both drivers were traveling at a high rate of speed."

Mingo Deputy Sheriff's Department Cpl. Norman Mines is investigating the accident, assisted by Det. Joe Smith and Deputy Smith.

Ryan is well-known in the coalfields and across the state as an umpire. He has umpired several state tournament games and high school contests in Mingo and Logan counties.

"He is well-loved by everybody," Carey said of his former partner on the fire department. Carey said he was Ryan's partner for a long time, until he was promoted and the two men began working different hours.

"That was hard on me when we went on different shifts," Carey added.

According to his current partner at the WFD, Roger Maynard, Ryan suffered several broken bones in the crash and had to undergo surgery and is still in the intensive care unit at Cabell Huntington Hospital.

Hinkle was a former butcher at the Taylorville Supermarket across from his home in Taylorville.

— Reports from The Williamson Daily News were used in this article.