By Tina L. Scott
MMC Staff
MERRILL – At approximately 8:34 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 25, Lincoln County Dispatchers received a 911 call from the driver of an SUV that had left the roadway and traveled down the embankment, coming to rest on its side on the ice on the Wisconsin River. The driver, who was the lone occupant of the vehicle, was trapped inside.
The Merrill Fire Department (MFD) was dispatched to the scene near the 2000 block of West Main St. in the City of Merrill with Engine-62, Squad-64, Med-63, Utility-68, and Med-62 units responding. The Merrill Police Department (MPD) and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the scene.
Based on vehicle tracks in the snow, the SUV appeared to have been traveling westbound on Hwy. 64 prior to the incident, when it left the highway near the turnaround.
Upon arrival, MFD Battalion Chief Scott Krause took charge of the scene and noted “the rear end of the vehicle, about the last foot, was extending out over open water, and the way the vehicle was turned, we couldn’t immediately see the occupant inside.”
Lincoln County Dispatchers maintained contact with the driver, keeping him calm and advising him not to move around in the vehicle, according to MFD’s press release regarding the incident.
Krause said firefighters first secured the SUV with the winch from the squad and used it to pull the SUV closer to shore and spin it around slightly. Firefighters in cold water suits then cut the windshield out of the vehicle, and MFD personnel assisted the driver out of the vehicle, up the embankment, and into a nearby ambulance for medical evaluation. The lone occupant of the vehicle, a 41-year-old male, was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital with minor injuries and for further evaluation.
Investigation is still pending; however, no driver impairment is suspected, according to MFD and the Merrill Police Department (MPD).
“I’m just shocked the ice shelf held the weight of that vehicle,” said Chief Corey Bennett of the MPD, who was also on scene.
“While we train for water rescues, the driver was lucky that the vehicle didn’t go into the water,” Battalion Chief Krause said. “It was a narrow miss.”
Rod’s Towing was called and removed the vehicle from the ice. Both lanes of Hwy. 64 from Foster St. to Water St. were closed until approximately 10:30 a.m., and traffic was re-routed via Water St.
