Wadena Woman Injured After Icy Highway 71 Collision With Semi-Truck

Kathrine Kay Swenson was southbound on Highway 71 at 210th Street in Leaf River Township Saturday morning when her minivan crossed into the path of a northbound semi truck. The 10:17 a.m. collision sent the 19-year-old Wadena woman to Astera Health hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Swenson was driving a 2001 Chrysler Town and Country. The semi, a 2017 International, was driven by Joseph Ernest Duncan Baer, 34, of Underwood, who was not injured, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Both were wearing seatbelts. Airbags deployed in the minivan but did not deploy in the semi.

The Wadena County Sheriff's Office, Wadena Fire Department and Astera EMS all assisted the State Patrol at the scene.

The crash report listed snowy-ice road conditions at the time, a hazard that recurs on this stretch each spring and carries risks that are easy to underestimate. When temperatures hover near freezing, fresh snow melts onto pavement and refreezes into a thin glaze that looks no different from a wet road. For a southbound driver approaching an intersection at highway speed alongside oncoming semi traffic, that glaze can eliminate effective braking distance before any correction is possible.

Highway 71 through Wadena County has a documented pattern of serious crashes under similar conditions. A fatal collision involving a semi truck occurred near the same corridor in March 2023 at the Highway 71 and Leaf River Road intersection, killing one person and seriously injuring another. A separate winter crash in Rockwood Township on the same highway, also on ice, killed an 87-year-old Sebeka man.

Saturday's collision at 210th Street is the latest reminder that spring snowfall on this corridor can be as unforgiving as anything the deep of winter produces.