Loader rolls over into ravine trying to free snowplow
Staff writer
A county loader that went off the road Feb. 12 and into a ravine at the east intersection of 170th Rd. and Lakeshore Dr. turned onto its top and had to be towed out of the ravine a few days later.
According to the sheriff’s office, driver Jeffery E. Stenzel, 55, lost control of the loader while trying to pull a county snowplow out of a ditch.
County administrator Tina Spencer said she wasn’t sure whether the snowplow had slid off the road or was merely stuck.
Although the loader eventually was towed, it still was in the ravine Thursday afternoon.
A steep dip on Lakeshore just north of the intersection with 170th has no guardrails.
No estimate of damage or towing expenses was available. An official accident report states that the loader, a 1995 Volvo, sustained damage to all areas of the vehicle.
County administrator Tina Spencer told commissioners Tuesday that although the loader was extensively damaged, its engine still operated.
“This area has taken school buses, cars, and trucks,” lake resident Pam Maag posted on social media. “The county finds no need to salt or sand the lake. They don’t maintain any road at the lake but the loop.”
The loader overturned in a smaller storm than the storm Jan. 4 and 5 that dumped several inches of ice and snow on the county.
A day after that storm, Maag and her husband, Roger, drove from their residence on Upland Rd. to Roger’s father’s house north of Marion to rescue Roger’s father, who had fallen outside his barn and lay on the icy ground for more than two hours.
Maag pointed out that an ambulance and a tow truck trying to remove it both ended up in a ditch that day.
“It took a county piece of equipment to get them out,” Maag said. “This week we are looking at a major storm again.”