An OPP officer whose cruiser was slammed into by a pickup truck Thursday while parked on a road near Milverton has been released from hospital.

Perth County OPP Const. Lisa Irwin was investigating a separate crash on Perth Road 131, near Line 70 just north of Milverton, at the time.

Snow squalls and blowing snow were causing whiteout conditions in the area, and all municipal roads in Perth County were closed – although officials weren’t able to put barricades at every intersection, and the intersection Irwin was at was one of those without.

The drivers of the two vehicles in the initial crash were in the back of Irwin’s cruiser around 12:30 p.m., when a pickup truck crashed into the vehicle.

OPP say the cruiser’s emergency lights were activated at the time, and flares had been placed around the vehicle – but neither measure was enough to stop the pickup.

“It was quite a violent collision. The vehicle was knocked right into the ditch and our officer was injured,” Insp. Steve Porter tells CTV News.

Irwin, who has been with Perth County OPP for three years and before that spent 10 years with Waterloo Regional Police, was taken to hospital with soft tissue injuries and possible broken bones.

“It’s going to take some time for her to recover,” says Porter.

The drivers from the initial crash, who were in the back of the cruiser, were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The driver of the pickup truck, a 23-year-old Perth East woman, was not injured.

Irwin’s cruiser was significantly damaged, with its trunk caved in and windows smashed.

The crash was one of two Thursday involving Perth County OPP cruisers – Porter says the officer in the other collision wasn’t seriously hurt – and one of 51 police responded to across the county between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.