Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
SAXON, Wis. — A fatal all-terrain vehicle accident that occurred Tuesday evening at Saxon Harbor is under investigation by the Iron County Sheriff’s Department.
The accident involving a Milwaukee area couple occurred around 7 p.m.
The brakes on the ATV reportedly failed and the machine went down a cliff on Lake Superior, killing the female passenger and injuring the male driver, 44.
Sheriff Tony Furyk said Wednesday the ATV failed to negotiate the sharp corner on Harbor Drive and it went over the steep cliff, landing on the lake’s beach.
The 42-year-old woman from Hales Corners was unresponsive upon arrival. A deputy and first responders attempted cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, but the woman was pronounced dead on the scene, according to a sheriff’s department report.
The couple’s two sons, 15 and 17, were riding with the group and witnessed the crash.
The injured man was transported by ambulance to Aspirus Grand View Hospital and was later airlifted to another facility.
According to the youngsters interviewed at the hospital, the man had reported having trouble with the ATV’s brakes just before the crash.
The two boys, riding on separate machines, had gone ahead and stopped at the bottom of the hill to wait for their parents. They saw their other ATV come down the hill and fail to slow down for the sharp corner, according to the report.
Harbor Drive, extending several miles from U.S. 2 in the Gurney area to the harbor, is a popular route for snowmobiles and ATVs.
—Daily Globe staff
