WILSON, Wis. — Investigators from the Wisconsin State Patrol say a semi driver who failed to react to slowing traffic was responsible for setting off a chain-reaction crash that claimed two lives and left six injured.
The multi-vehicle pileup occurred in the westbound lanes of I-94 just before 5:45 p.m. Monday night on Interstate 94 at the Highway 128 bridge, about 20 miles from Menomonie. When St. Croix County deputies arrived at the scene, they found seven vehicles had been involved in the pileup.
An update issued Tuesday afternoon said the driver of a 2013 Volvo semi was traveling at highway speed and "failed to identify the slowed traffic" caused by a construction zone in the area. State patrol investigators say the Volvo plowed into a Ford pickup and a Freightliner semi, causing a chain reaction crash involving four additional vehicles. A number of those vehicles burst into flames following the pileup, including both semis.
The drivers of the Volvo semi and the Ford pickup did not survive the crash. Wisconsin DOT identified the victims as 76-year-old Zdzislaw Obodzinski, of Palatine, Illinois (the semi) and 45-year-old James Shearer (Ford pickup) from Hammond, Wisconsin.
Those in the other vehicles involved were treated for minor injuries and released. They ranged in age from 6 to 49.
One of the trucks that burned was underneath the State Highway 128 overpass, causing transportation officials to close the route until the bridge could be inspected. Both the highway and Interstate 94 below have since been reopened.
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