Four Vehicle Crash on Highway 18

Highway 18 near Fennimore was closed for 2 hours Tuesday because of a crash near Fennimore. Shortly before 1pm, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a 4 vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway18 and Annaton Road. 65 year old Dan Carey of Highland, was traveling west on Highway 18 in his company’s 1996 Mac dump truck. At the same time, 33 year old Caitlin O’Connell of Dodgeville was traveling west in a state owned Ford Fusion. Also traveling westbound behind O’Connell was 67 year old Bruce Hasheider of Sauk City in his company’s Peterbilt semi with an empty graitrailer in tow. Carey was slowing his dump truck to make a left turn southbound onto Annaton Road. O’Connell saw the dump truck slow and was also slowing down. Hasheider did not see either vehicle slowing down and ran into the rear of O’Connell’s Ford Fusion pushing it into the rear driver’s side of the dump truck. Hasheider had also attempted to swerve the semi to the right, after pushing O’Connell’s vehicle into the dump truck the semi slammed into the rear passenger side of the dump truck. This forced the dump truck into the eastbound lane of Highway 18. At the same time, 44 year old Heather Volden of Viroqua, was traveling east on Highway 18 in her company’s Buick Enclave. Volden impacted the rear driver’s side tires of the dump truck with the front driver’s side of her vehicle. The dump truck came to rest facing westbound in the eastbound lane west of the intersection. The Buick Enclave came to rest facing eastbound in the eastbound lane east of the intersection. The semi came to rest across both lanes of Highway 18 right at the intersection with Annaton Road. The Ford Fusion came to rest partially under the trailer of the semi. Highway 18 was closed and traffic was re-routed for approximately two hours while emergency crews worked at the scene. The dump truck sustained minor rear end damage and was driven from the scene. The semi sustained heavy front end damage and was removed from the scene by Wegner’s Auto Service of Richland Center. The Ford Fusion had very heavy damages both on the front and rear ends and was removed from the scene by Haase Service and Towing of Montfort. The Buick Enclave had heavy front end damage and was also removed by Haase Towing service. O’Connell was taken to Upland Hills Medical Center in Dodgeville for injuries suffered in the crash. All other persons had minor injuries. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Fennimore Fire, Montfort Fire, Fennimore EMS, Montfort EMS, Wisconsin State Patrol, Wisconsin State Patrol Inspector, and the Grant County Highway Department. Hasheider received a citation for Inattentive Driving. The crash is still under investigation by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.