2 people hurt in Pepin County crash Thursday

TOWN OF WAUBEEK (Pepin County), Wis. (WEAU) - Two people are hurt after a commercial truck crashed head-on into a pickup truck Thursday morning in Pepin County.

According to a release from the Pepin County Sheriff’s Office, the crashed happened at 8:23 a.m. on Highway 25 south of Ingram Road in the Town of Waubeek, or about two miles north of Durand near the Durand Rod & Gun Club, Thursday.

The commercial truck, which was hauling U.S. Postal Service mail and driven by a 35-year-old man from Chippewa Falls, Eric Rubenzer, was going south on Highway 25 when it crossed into the northbound lane and hit the pickup truck driven by 25-year-old Levi Hayden on Mondovi, who was going north. The pickup truck caught on fire, and when first responders arrived on the scene, both vehicles were completely engulfed in flames. A passerby pulled Hayden from the truck after the crash.

Hayden was flown to Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire with life-threatening injuries and was later taken to Rochester, Minn. Rubenzer was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Eau Claire with serious injuries.

The Pepin County Sheriff’s Office said the passerby who pulled Hayden from the truck “undoubtedly” saved Hayden’s life. The passerby left the scene before first responders arrived, but was identified later.

Assisting the Sheriff’s Office were the Wisconsin State Patrol, Dunn County Sheriff’s Office, Durand Fire Department, Durand Ambulance Service, Mayo Ambulance, Pepin County Highway Department, U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.