CONTACT:
Conservation Officer Eric Fluette
603-788-4850
603-271-3361
March 23, 2020
Colebrook, NH – At approximately 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, 2020, NH Fish and Game Conservation Officers were notified of a snowmobile rollover crash on the Balsams Trail in Colebrook with CPR in progress. EMS personnel from Colebrook Fire Department and 45th Parallel EMS responded along with an Officer from Colebrook Police Department, a New Hampshire State Police Trooper, and Conservation Officers.
The victim, identified as Joseph King, 44, of Wentworth, NH, had been operating his snowmobile east on the Balsams Trail with another companion. After a brief separation where the companion lost sight of King, he came upon him lying on the trail beside his overturned snowmobile. With the extent of King’s injuries unknown, a call to 911 was made and he began performing CPR.
Colebrook Fire Department transported first responders across approximately two miles of trail to the crash scene utilizing their tracked ATV. Once on scene, EMS personnel continued life-saving efforts. Despite all efforts, King succumbed to the injuries he sustained in the rollover crash and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
This crash is still under investigation; however, Conservation Officers believe unreasonable speed for the existing icy trail conditions to be the primary factor in the crash.