Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
The winter snowmobile fatality toll in Wisconsin rose to 14 last week with two deaths on Feb. 12.
That’s almost double the deaths that were recorded last winter.
The latest fatalities were reported in Clark and Florence counties, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
In the Florence County accident, a 36-year-old man fell off the snowmobile he was riding and was run over by a groomer that was approaching from the opposite direction on a hill, according to a DNR report.
The 14 people had died through Feb. 17, the last day the DNR’s fatality reports were updated.
A fatal accident occurred on Friday, Feb. 10, on Pike Lake in the town of Fifield, according to the Price County Sheriff’s Department. Two snowmobiles collided while crossing the lake.
Tyler Trotterschaude, 31, of Park Falls, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the other snowmobile was transported by ambulance to Flambeau Hospital in Park Falls and was later transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield.
Two of the fatalities occurred in Iron County, near Hurley and at Saxon Harbor.
The WDNR now includes estimated speeds for the accident summaries. The snowmobiler at Saxon Harbor was traveling around 40 mph along Harbor Drive when his snowmobile slid out of control into trees. Alcohol was not a factor.
In a Jan. 17 fatality in Minocqua, the snowmobiler struck a fixed object at an estimated speed of 88 mph, according to a DNR summary. The driver’s alcohol content in that accident was .225, or almost three times the level used to determine intoxication.
A year ago, the fatality count stood at eight. The ninth and last fatal accident of the year occurred on Feb. 26 in Bayfield County when an intoxicated snowmobiler struck another vehicle.
