Lakeside man killed in grisly crash

A 22-year-old Lakeside man is dead following a head-on collision along U.S. Highway 93 near the Ninepipes Lodge the day before Christmas Eve, according to Montana law enforcement authorities.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has identified Jacob Paul Imhoff as the driver of a pickup truck which crossed the center line and collided with a semitrailer shortly before 4 p.m. on Friday.

Imhoff was ejected from his vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Zach Miller.

“There was quite a bit of damage to both vehicles, probably the most I’ve seen,” Miller said.

The 46-year-old man who was driving the semitrailer was transported to St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan with non-life-threatening injuries.

The crash happened near mile marker 40 in front of Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge, just north of St. Ignatius. Miller said the accident blocked all lanes of the highway for nearly six hours.

According to dispatch, the roads were covered with a slick layer of snow when the accident occurred. The stretch of highway is dotted with white crosses on the roadside representing other vehicle fatalities.

“There’s a lot of crashes in that area — it’s kind of a skinny stretch of road with not much shoulder,” Miller said.

Due to the magnitude of the crash, numerous local agencies worked to clear the wreckage and redirect traffic. Miller said Montana Highway Patrol, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Confederated Salish and Kootenai law enforcement, Ronan Fire Department and the Department of Emergency Management all responded to the scene.

The Associated Press contributed to this story