A 24-year-old Lancaster man was extricated from his truck and flown to a Madison hospital after the vehicle left Highway 35/61 near the Lancaster airport, went briefly airborne and rolled multiple times into a ditch early Wednesday morning, October 7. The crash shut down the highway in both directions for about an hour as crews worked to free the driver.
According to WKOW, the Grant County Sheriff's Office received a crash notification at 6:40 a.m. in South Lancaster Township. The driver had been heading northbound when his vehicle left the east side of the roadway and struck an embankment, the sheriff's office reported.
From there, the station's report says the truck went airborne for a short distance before slamming into the ground in a ditch and rolling multiple times. A caller who reported the crash told authorities the vehicle had come to rest on its driver's side, with the driver unconscious inside, per the same account.
Fire Crews Free Driver, Medical Helicopter Called In
The Lancaster Fire Department extricated the driver from the mangled truck, and Lancaster EMS staff treated him immediately after he was pulled free. He was then turned over to UW MedFlight, which airlifted him to a hospital in Madison, the outlet notes.
Highway 35/61 remained closed in both directions for roughly an hour while crews worked the scene and cleared the wreckage, delaying traffic near the Lancaster airport during the closure.
Another Grant County Rollover Earlier This Year
This is not the first time a single-vehicle rollover has brought tragedy to Grant County's rural roads in 2026. In May, a crash on County Highway A near Buckwheat Ridge Road in Ellenboro Township left one person dead and another critically injured, according to WRCO.
In that earlier crash, a 2007 Ford F350 driven by 17-year-old Christopher Brandemuehl of rural Lancaster, with 26-year-old passenger Katy Schaefer, struck an embankment and rolled multiple times before coming to rest on its driver's side, ejecting both occupants, WRCO reported. Brandemuehl was flown by AirCare3 to UW-Hospital in Madison with critical injuries, while Schaefer was pronounced dead at the scene. That crash closed County Highway A in both directions for about seven hours and was counted as Grant County's fourth fatal crash of the year.
