Alcohol not involved in firetruck crash, State Patrol says
YELLOW MEDICINE COUNTY — Blood test results showed that alcohol was not involved in a fatal crash involving a Wood Lake firetruck, a Minnesota State Patrol spokesperson said Monday.
Sgt. Troy Christianson, State Patrol public information officer for southern Minnesota, said that after receiving blood test results, the State Patrol updated its online incident page to say that alcohol was not involved in the crash. The updates were made Friday, Christianson said.
The State Patrol and the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a rollover crash that involved a Wood Lake firetruck on Sept. 26. Patrick Remiger, 43, of rural Wood Lake, was killed in the crash. Andrew Vanhecke, 37, and Beaux Vanhecke, 6, both of Wood Lake, were injured.
At the time of the crash, the firetruck was returning from homecoming festivities at Lakeview School. Celebrations included a tradition where members of the Lakeview cross country team run the homecoming game football from the city of Wood Lake to the city of Cottonwood.
After the crash, a search warrant application from the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office had been put into public files in the county district court. In the document, the Sheriff’s Office asked for a warrant to obtain a blood sample from Andrew Vanhecke, who was driving the firetruck.