On Tuesday, September 2, 2025, Fire Chief David Lontcoski addressed the Committee of the Whole regarding the accident that occurred at the intersection of Hwy. 13 and Little Chicago Road/Hwy. 111. He stated, "We struggled a little bit," because they did not have the stabilization equipment that they needed to secure the 92,000-pound semi as they were trying to get victims out of the pick-up truck and the semi. He asked the committee if they would allow $15,800 to be used from the Equipment Fund to buy the necessary stabilizing equipment so they can handle accidents with commercial vehicles. He added that there are hundreds of heavy, commercial vehicles going through Phillips every day and no emergency services in the county have the proper equipment to secure a heavy vehicle. "We don't always have heavy equipment across the road like we did that day." Even with the heavy equipment they were able to use that day, emergency services workers were afraid the semi could move, causing more injuries or fatalities, as they worked to get to the victims. "In 30 years, I've never ever seen anything like that," David said.
Alderman Richard "Dick" Heitkemper added that he was on call with the ambulance crew that day. "There were three people that were trapped in the pick-up truck under the semi. It took hours to get them out of there. There were two that were deceased, and we could tell right away, but we did rescue a 6-year-old that was stuck under the dash of the truck, and he is alive today. It took a long time to get that little boy out of there. Had these other two been alive on scene, we don't know if they would have lived in the length of time it took us to get those ones out of the truck, but they were deceased upon arrival." He said a huge excavator was used to anchor the truck given they did not have the rescue equipment for which they are now asking.
EMS and fire department members were working from inside the vehicle, reaching inside the vehicle. Dick added, "Everybody was on edge not knowing if that tanker, which weighed 90,000 pounds, was going to continue to roll over down into the hollow, so this is something that we look around and these are not available for any agency in the county at this time." Dick shared, "The response was tremendous" with EMS from the area responding. He said one helicopter landed on scene to take the little boy to the hospital. The other helicopter transported the semi driver from the hospital in Park Falls to Marshfield so the man could have surgery. It took about 3 1/2 hours to get all the people out of the vehicles and about eight hours to clean up the scene.
Dick added the cost of the equipment will be worth it if it even saves one life.
The committee approved the purchase, which will allow 80,000 pounds to be stabilized.
The committee also thanked everyone involved in assisting with the accident.
RELATED STORIES: FATAL CRASH AT INTERSECTION OF HWY. 13 AND HWY. 111 TAKES TWO LIVES and FUNDRAISER CREATED FOR MORRISON FAMILY AFTER FATAL VEHICLE ACCIDENT
