Public Safety

January 19. 2013 9:59AM

Three injured in two Pittsburg snowmobile crashes

BY BOB HOOKWAY
SPECIAL to the UNION LEADER

PITTSBURG --- New Hampshire Fish & Game Department investigators say “solar glare and snow dust” were factors in a Friday snowmobile crash between members of the same club that left a man from Candia and another from Nashua hospitalized Saturday.

Fish & Game officers also investigated a second Pittsburg snowmobile accident Friday night that left an Epsom woman with a facial injury.

David L. Batzdorf, 56, of Candia and William Lincoln, 34, of Nashua were riding in a large group of snowmobilers at midafternoon Friday on Trail 141 in the East Branch area of Indian Stream in New Hampshire’s northernmost town when they collided, Fish & Game officer Chris Egan said in a news release.

Members of Pittsburg Fire and Rescue, along with the Beecher Falls, Vt., firefighters and 45th Parallel EMS also responded, according to Egan.

“It appears that solar glare and snow dust played a role in the incident, and alcohol was not a factor,” Egan said in the release.

Batzdorf was flown from the scene to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon where he was listed Saturday in stable condition, according to a DHMC spokeswoman.

Lincoln was transported from the scene by rescue sled, and was later flown to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where he was listed Saturday in good condition and was later discharged, a CMMC spokeswoman said.

At about 9 p.m. Friday, Fish & Game officers responded to a single snowmobile crash on Trail 139 in Pittsburg. Tracy Freeman, 48, of Epsom, sustained a facial injury after she failed to negotiate a sharp curve on the trail and struck some small trees, according to Egan.

Freeman was treated for her injuries at Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook, and officers determined that alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

“Though excessively high speeds do not appear to have been factors in these two incidents, they should serve as reminders for all riders to be prepared to adjust for changeable trail conditions at all times,” wrote Egan.

bhookway@newstote.com