Train hits pickup, one to hospital
May 30, 2013
A Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad engineer contacted the Boundary County Sheriff's Office at 2:49 a.m. today to report having hit what he believe to have been an unoccupied vehicle at the Pine Island crossing south of Bonners Ferry, but a deputy arriving on scene minutes later found that the pickup had been occupied.

One person was transported to Boundary Community Hospital, where he was treated and released.

According to the Idaho State Police, Kyle Maas, 27, Bonners Ferry, was stopped on the tracks in a 2008 Dodge pickup when it was hit by the southbound train.

Initially, a HeartFlite medical helicopter had been called; at the same time HeartFlite reported they could not fly in due to weather, the deputy on scene informed dispatch that a helicopter would not be needed.

In addition to sheriff's deputies and Boundary Volunteer Ambulance, officers from the Idaho State Police, the Bonners Ferry Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol responded to the scene, as well as a BNSF crew.

The collision remains under investigation.