On the evening of January 26, 2025, a snowmobile accident was reported in northern Price County.
A husband and wife heard loud noises outside their home. The woman said she saw a piece of wood from their deck fly up, and her husband ran outside to see what had happened. The female caller reported that a man, driving a snowmobile, had crashed into their house. She said they did not believe the driver was going to survive.
A member of Park Falls EMS arrived at the accident site, and radioed out to the responding Park Falls EMS stating that the man was showing aspirations and was breathing but had severe trauma to his head. Officer Fohr arrived on scene at the same time as a man with EMS.
The officer went to the location. He observed that on the south side of the residence, there was a deck raised by support beams so the deck could be walked under. A support beam was broken on the deck, and some siding was broken on the house. The basement wall was visible underneath the deck, and the snowmobile was partially underneath the deck, approximately four to five feet from the south basement wall. According to Officer Fohr, "The snowmobile was mangled from front end damage."
The snowmobile driver, named Joseph, was lying on his stomach over the seat. The male owner of the home was holding Joseph's head, which he had wrapped in a towel to help stop the bleeding. Since the homeowner was holding the man's head properly and said he was okay with doing so, he continued to assist. Joseph was struggling to breathe and was slightly groaning. Blood was observed in the entire bottom of the engine block and in the snow. There was also vomit and saliva present.
EMS members and the officer put Joseph on a gurney, and he left in the ambulance at 7:28 p.m. He was then taken from Park Falls Airport, via helicopter, to a hospital.
The officer surveyed the scene and discovered that before hitting the support beam of the deck on the house, the tracks showed the snowmobile initially had been driving north/northeast on Wintergreen Lake. The snowmobile then drove through a wooden swing set before hitting the residence. There were no marks on the lake to indicate the snowmobile tried to slow down.
The investigation discovered the man was staying at an area resort for a bachelor party. Deputy Lex and Officer Fohr found six members of the bachelor party outside of a cabin at the resort. One of the men was the owner of the snowmobile that was involved in the crash. The men stated they did not know that Joseph had left the bar and taken the snowmobile. They stated they were unsure where he was for about fifteen minutes. They thought the snowmobile had been stolen. They advised the man had been drinking alcohol all day.
No further information was given on the man's condition. However, he is not listed as a crash fatality on the Wisconsin DNR's 2025 Snowmobile Fatal Crash Summary as of February 3, 2025.