Oneida and Vilas counties report injuries and two deaths in weekend accidents

From the editors of the Star Journal

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

A four-year-old died on August 31 when the ATV he was riding in the town of Pelican overturned and the child became trapped under the vehicle. The Oneida County Sheriff's Office reported that the ATV's passengers were nine, seven and four years old. The accident off Rueckert Road occurred around 6 p.m.

Life-saving measures were attempted, but the four-year-old passenger was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

The Vilas County Sheriff's Office reported the death of a 49-year-old Portage woman on September 2nd who was involved in an off-road vehicle accident on Saturday, August 31st in the city of Conover.

A caller to Vilas County Emergency Services reported around 3:30 p.m. that a woman had been ejected from the ATV and was unconscious. The woman was initially taken to a hospital in Eagle River and later flown to a hospital in Wausau. The woman's name has not been released.

Seven people were injured in a three-vehicle crash on US 51 at the intersection of Co. Hwy K and Swamp Lake Road in Oneida County on Sunday, September 1. The crash occurred around 2 p.m.

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

There were four injured people on the Equinox. One injured person was flown from the scene to a hospital in Wausau by air ambulance. Another was transported to a hospital in Tomahawk and later to Wausau by air ambulance. Another injured person was taken to a hospital in Tomahawk. The fourth injured person was flown to a hospital in Woodruff.

There was an injured person in the F-150 who could not be transported medically.

There were two injuries in the Yukon. One of the injured was taken to a hospital in Rhinelander, the other injured person could not receive medical treatment.

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