Mission man killed in skidder rollover

POLSON — A 28-year-old man from St. Ignatius died on the job last Thursday afternoon as the result of injuries sustained from an industrial equipment rollover accident.

According to Lake County Sheriff Lucky Larson, Bryan Zempel was operating a Caterpillar log skidder on a logging operation adjacent to Matterhorn Road north of Polson at approximately 2 p.m. when the machine he was on began to roll. At the time, he was pulling in several logs with a winch on the skidder and it appeared that Zempel tried to stop the machine from rolling by releasing the load from the machine.

The skidder rolled approximately 200 yards down the steep hillside before coming to a rest on a partially level location on the hill. Zempel was reported to have not been using any type of restraint device while operating the skidder and was ejected during the rollover, reportedly sustaining multiple blunt force trauma injuries to his entire body.

Sheriff Larson said Zempel was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident by Lake County Deputy Coroner Michael Gehl.