Accident injures one, scatters granite on interstate
By Andy Steinke, Dells Events
An Illinois man was transported to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison with life threatening injuries and granite covered the interstate Monday morning following a two vehicle crash near Lake Delton.
At 8:35 a.m. a straight truck hauling slabs of granite was traveling down westbound Interstate 90-94 near mile marker 89 when a semi that had been stopped on the right hand shoulder pulled out into traffic, Delton Fire Chief Andy Schultz said.
According to the Wisconsin State Patrol, the semi was traveling 25 to 30 miles per hour when it merged into the right-hand lane of traffic.
Unable to stop for the semi, the driver of the straight truck, Anthony Fortuna, 49, of Evergreen Park, Ill., rear-ended the semi.
Fortuna slid off the highway and came to rest in the median. He was pinned in his cab by oak trees in the area, Schultz said.
MedFlight was called to the scene of the crash and transported Fortuna to UW-Hospital, State Patrol Sgt. Gary Bauer said.
Fortuna’s status is unknown, but Schultz said Fortuna was talking before MedFlight left the scene.
The trucks did not block the westbound lanes of traffic, but the spilled granite stopped traffic for about two hours.
After the helicopter left, one westbound lane of traffic was reopened to traffic, Bauer said.
The eastbound lanes of traffic were also stopped for 15 or 20 minutes as the MedFlight landed, Schultz said.
Delton Fire extricated Fortuna from his vehicle and also helped divert traffic from the interstate while the Sauk County Highway Department cleaned the slabs of granite off the roadway.
Dells-Delton EMS and the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department were also on scene.
As of Monday afternoon, no citations had been issued in the incident.