Oneida, Vilas counties report injuries, two deaths from weekend accidents

By Star Journal staff

Two fatal Northwoods ATV accidents over the Labor Day weekend remain under investigation.

A four-year old died Aug. 31 when the ATV he was riding on in the town of Pelican overturned, pinning the child under the vehicle. The Oneida County Sheriff’s office reported passengers of the ATV were ages nine, seven and four. The accident, off Rueckert Road, happened around 6 p.m.

Lifesaving measures were attempted, however the four-year-old passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Vilas County Sheriff’s office has reported the death Sept. 2, of a 49-year old Portage woman who was involved in an ATV accident Saturday, Aug. 31, in the town of Conover.

A caller to the Vilas County 911 center around 3:30 p.m. reported a female had been ejected from the ATV and was unconscious. The woman was initially transported to an Eagle River hospital, then later flown to a hospital in Wausau.  The woman’s name has not been released.

A three-vehicle crash on U.S. 51 at the intersection of Co. Hwy K and Swamp Lake Road in Oneida County on Sunday, Sept. 1, resulted in the injury of seven people. The accident occurred around 2 p.m.

Initial reports from witnesses on the scene reported a northbound Chevy Equinox was stopped in the lane of traffic on U.S. 51, waiting to turn left onto Swamp Lake Road. A second northbound vehicle, a GMC Yukon, struck the vehicle waiting in traffic from behind, pushing the vehicle into the southbound lane. A third vehicle, a Ford F-150, traveling south on U.S. 51, struck the Equinox and rolled into the west ditch.

There were four injured people in the Equinox. One injury was transported by med-flight from the scene to a Wausau hospital. Another was transported to a hospital in Tomahawk, and later transported again by med-flight to Wausau. Another injured person was taken to a hospital in Tomahawk. The fourth injured person was transported to a hospital in Woodruff.

There was one injured person in the F-150 who was not medically transported.

There were two injured people in the Yukon. One injury was transported to a Rhinelander hospital, and the other injury was not medically transported.

The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Oneida County Ambulance, Cassian Fire Department, Nokomis First Responders and Fire Department, and MEDEVAC helicopter.