MISSOULA -- The tiny town of Alberton is reeling after a tragic car wreck killed Mayor Joe Hanson's grandson Monday evening and left another of his grandsons critically injured.

Daniel Hanson, 25, died when a drunken driver going the wrong way on Interstate 90 collided head-on with his Subaru station wagon. Hanson's cousin, Kent Fisher, 20, a passenger in the car, remains hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he's listed in critical condition.

"These are town boys. Moreso even than the average town boy because so many people know them," said Keren Wales, the owner of Montana Valley Bookstore, a social hub of downtown Alberton. "Joe is our mayor and these are his grandsons. They help him all the time at the junkyard and baling hay. We're crushed in the heart for what happened, and we're crushed for Joe. In a town of 400 people, we become very close knit. And to have it be a drunk driver going the wrong way on the freeway. It just exasperates."

Mayor Hanson could not be reached for comment, but his former wife, Violet "Vi" Barr, the grandmother of the victims, said the men were returning from a barbecue at the time of the collision, which occurred shortly before 9:30 p.m. at mile marker 99, near Airway Boulevard.

"Everybody's hurting. It could have been any one of us," Barr said. "They were just trying to get back home. It's just such a devastating eye-opener."

Barr, who owns the Sidetrack Cafe, said Alberton residents have been calling the restaurant constantly for updates on her grandson's condition, which will depend on the outcome of several operations.

"The whole town is heartbroken," Barr said. "The phone rings more because people are trying to figure out the latest on Kent than it does for anything related to food items."

Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Hoffman said Lonnie Ray Hylton, 39, of Great Falls, was highly intoxicated when he drove his maroon Dodge pickup truck onto the eastbound interstate exit ramp at the Wye intersection and proceeded the wrong way down the westbound lane.

Hylton remains hospitalized following the collision, but investigators have recommended that the Missoula County attorney file charges of vehicular homicide while under the influence and criminal endangerment. Several oncoming vehicles had to swerve to avoid Hylton before he collided with Hanson's Subaru, Hoffman said.

The tragedy in Alberton comes on the heels of another recent fatal car wreck that took the lives of four Denton teenagers. The single-vehicle rollover occurred on July 19 and sent the town reeling as residents came to grips with the loss.

Alberton has had its share of tragedy in the past year, too. Alberton native Mark Zylawy, 40, died in January when he was hit by a semitrailer on Interstate 5 near Portland, Ore., after his pickup stalled.

"It seems like we've had an awful lot of deaths in our community," Barr said. "It's been hard."

Reporter Tristan Scott: 406-523-5264 or tscott@missoulian.com