A 76-year-old Valders woman was extricated from her wrecked Kia Telluride and flown to a hospital after her vehicle collided with an eastbound Canadian National train on Lenz Road, south of U.S. Highway 151, in Manitowoc County. The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, and first responders found the 2025 Telluride resting in the east ditch after the impact.
According to FOX6 News Milwaukee, the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office dispatch center learned of the crash through an automated iPhone crash-detection 911 call. Preliminary investigation indicates the southbound Kia failed to yield the right-of-way at a railroad crossing controlled by a yield sign before colliding with the train. Per dispatch reports cited in that account, the driver was trapped inside the vehicle following the impact.
Freeing her took a coordinated effort. Valders Fire & Ambulance, St. Nazianz Fire, and Branch Fire Departments carried out the physical extrication of the driver from the crumpled SUV, according to Seehafer News. Once freed, she was flown from the rural crash site to a hospital aboard a ThedaStar medical helicopter, the outlet reports — a level of response that underscores how serious her injuries were.
A Multi-Agency Scene on a Rural Crossing
The response stretched well beyond the three fire departments. The same report notes that the St. Nazianz Police Department, the Town of Liberty, the Wisconsin State Patrol, and Hi-Way 42 Garage all had a role at the scene, reflecting the scope of coordination rural highway train incidents in Manitowoc County tend to require. The crash remains under investigation, per FOX6 News.
In the aftermath, Manitowoc County Sheriff Dan Hartwig issued a public safety reminder, noting that freight trains take significantly longer distances to stop than passenger vehicles and urging drivers to obey crossing signs and yield the right-of-way, the same account states. Lenz Road's crossing is marked by a yield sign. The national share of public grade crossings using a passive crossbuck-and-yield-sign setup is not specified.
What Wisconsin Law Requires at Passive Crossings
Wisconsin Statute § 192.29(5)(b) requires railroads to install yield signs at certain crossings, according to reporting from Progressive Railroading. Separately, Wisconsin Statute § 192.29(4) requires train locomotives operating outside municipal boundaries to ring their engine bells continuously starting at least 1,320 feet before reaching a public highway grade crossing, per FindLaw's summary of the statute.
The open questions in this case — the exact speed of the eastbound train, the sightlines drivers face at the Lenz Road crossing, and the driver's current medical condition — have not been publicly detailed.
How This Crash Fits Into Wisconsin's Rail Safety Picture
Crashes like this one aren't isolated. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reports the state has nearly 3,900 public at-grade railroad crossings spread across 3,300 miles of active track, and recorded 32 grade crossing collisions in 2024 that caused four deaths and seven injuries. Preliminary 2025 Federal Railroad Administration statistics compiled by Operation Lifesaver rank Wisconsin 25th nationally, with 37 collisions, four fatalities, and eight injuries recorded out of 2,274 incidents nationwide.
The helicopter service that transported the Valders woman, ThedaStar Air Medical, has flown emergency patients across northeast and central Wisconsin since 1986 and has completed more than 15,000 transports, according to ThedaCare. ThedaCare says rapid air transport can be valuable in emergency care.
