Wausau Pilot & Review

A snowmobile crash late Friday claimed the life of a 41-year-old man, the third such fatality in a two-day span in the northwoods.

The crash was reported at about 11:10 p.m. Jan. 27 on Trail 51, south of intersection 300. The crash scene is near the intersection of CTH L and Heafford Road, in the town of Nokomis.

Oneida County officials say the victim was driving a snowmobile at a high rate of speed, overtaking another driver, when he missed a curve in the trail, was ejected from the machine and struck a fence post.

Witnesses attempted to save the man’s life but were not successful. He died at the scene.

The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family members.

On Thursday, two fatalities were reported within hours of one another.

The first crash was reported at about 2:30 p.m. Jan. 26 on a trail near Shooting Range Road in Phelps. First responders began CPR on the woman and paged a helicopter to the crash scene. A second patient reportedly suffered arm injuries in the crash.

The medical helicopter was later called off and the woman died at the scene of her injuries, according to Vilas County Chief Deputy Patrick Schmidt.

A second crash less than three hours later on Hwy. 47 left a 57-year-old snowmobile driver dead. Officials say the man was with a group crossing the highway when he was struck by a motorist.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is completing Friday’s crash report.  The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Nokomis Fire and first responders, Oneida County EMS, Tomahawk EMS, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, DNR, and the Oneida County Medical Examiner’s Department.

The Pilot often relies on reports from police officials in control of a crime, fire or crash scene during a breaking news event. While these initial reports are valuable to readers, they also can be incomplete and even inaccurate. We let readers know what we can and can’t confirm, as well as when and how we received our information. Then we work to aggressively gather a wider range of perspectives and to verify the information through public records, interviews, photos and videos, all of which are verified before publishing. If you have any questions about our breaking news reporting, email us at [email protected].