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Alcohol part of fire truck crash investigation

More details revealed in search warrant request

Beer cans were found near the scene of a fatal crash involving a Wood Lake Fire truck, according to law enforcement documents made public this week.

On Tuesday, a search warrant application from the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office was put into public files in county district court. In the document, the Sheriff’s Office asked for a warrant to obtain a blood sample from Andrew Vanhecke.

Vanhecke, 37, was driving the fire truck that overturned in a ditch north of Cottonwood on Friday evening, the Minnesota State Patrol reported The truck had been coming back from homecoming festivities at Lakeview School. Part of Lakeview’s homecoming includes a tradition where members of the school’s cross country team run the homecoming game football from the city of Wood Lake to the city of Cottonwood.

The fire truck crash killed 43-year-old Patrick Remiger, and injured both Andrew Vanhecke and 6-year-old Beaux Vanhecke. The crash is currently under investigation by the State Patrol and the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Yellow Medicine County court filings, the Sheriff’s Office applied Friday night for a search warrant to take a blood sample from Andrew Vanhecke. Law enforcement said they believed Vanhecke was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.

The warrant application said the crash scene showed the fire truck was headed north on 490th Street, when it veered into the east shoulder, hit a mailbox, and overcorrected. The fire truck rolled “several times” before landing in the westbound ditch, the filings said.

At the scene, Remiger was found trapped underneath the fire truck, law enforcement said.

The search warrant application said several 12-ounce cans of beer were located close to the fire truck.

After getting court permission, Marshall Police assisted in getting a blood sample from Vanhecke, which was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing, the court filings said.

Yellow Medicine County Attorney Mark Gruenes said Wednesday that an investigation of the crash was still ongoing. As of Wednesday, investigators had not referred a report to the County Attorney’s Office for consideration of criminal charges, he said.

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