A 73-year-old Connecticut man was injured Friday afternoon in Stewartstown when the snowmobile he was riding crashed into a tree and pinned him to the ground as it became engulfed in flames.
Ron Reiske of Brookfield, Connecticut, was traveling west on Corridor Trail 21 when he failed to navigate a downhill right turn and hit a tree, according to a report from Fish and Game. He was thrown off, then became stuck underneath the snowmobile, which caught fire after the collision.
Reiske's riding party was able to free him without suffering injuries themselves. They called 911 immediately.
New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers, a New Hampshire forest ranger, and fire and rescue departments from Colebrook and Beecher Falls, Vermont, responded to the call.
Emergency responders carried him a short distance to a waiting ambulance. He was transported to Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook, then to University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington by helicopter due to his extensive injuries.
No further information was available Saturday afternoon. The crash investigation is ongoing, but a crash scene evaluation and statements from his riding companies indicated that speed and inexperience were leading factors, officials said.
