Couple injured in UTV accident

LAKEVIEW — An eastern Washington couple riding a UTV in a remote area of southern Bonner County were injured when the vehicle went off the trail and over an embankment early Saturday afternoon.

The male, who is in his 50s, was ejected from the side-by-side UTV as the vehicle tumbled down the embankment and fell about 30-40 feet, said Bob Abbott, public information officer for Bonner County EMS.

His wife, also in her 50s, fell off the UTV at some point and also was injured, Abbott said. The names of the couple were not available.

The couple, who are from Medical Lake, were riding with a group of utility terrain vehicles and all-terrain vehicles on a trip in the Lakeview area when the accident occurred just before 1 p.m.

Because of the remote nature of the location, it took emergency crews an extended period to get to the site.

The accident happened in the area of Bunco Road and Forest Service Road 1078, east of Lake Pend Oreille.

“It’s probably the worst place in Bonner or Kootenai County to get injured because of the remoteness of the location,” Abbott said. “It’s a real narrow, real hard to get to spot.”

Emergency crews were able to get the injured male onto a UTV and bring him to the base of the embankment where a Life Flight Network helicopter was able to land. The wife was assisted to the top of the trail by a rope rescue team.

The wife refused treatment at the scene and the husband was flown to Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene with non-life-threatening injuries.