(File photo: WRN)
Snow falling across the state on Monday made for hazardous driving conditions and is being blamed for at least three fatal crashes that killed four people in Wisconsin.
In Buffalo County, authorities said 32-year-old Christopher Squires of Fountain City died after his pickup truck slid through an intersection and got stuck at a railroad crossing arm. The truck was then hit by a Burlington Northern-Santa Fe cargo train.
In Barron County, the State Patrol said a car was going north on a street near Rice Lake, when it spun into the path of an oncoming SUV. The car driver died later at a Rice Lake hospital. The other driver was also taken to the hospital with undisclosed injuries.
In Columbia County, the driver of a car and a passenger were killed Monday afternoon near Pardeeville. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Department said the car veered out of control into the opposite lane, colliding with a truck pulling a trailer. Both people in the car died at the scene, while the pickup driver escaped injury.
Just across the state line in the upper peninsula of Michigan, Menominee County authorities said three children were killed when their mother lost control of the van she was driving and veered into the path of semi. The crash killed 14-year-old Michael McCue, 12-year-old Maxwell McCue, and 11-year-old Joelle McCue, while also critically injuring their mother, 40-year-old Susan Meade of Daggett.