Rollover injures three near Conrad
Three Whitefish residents, including city councilor Bill Kahle, were seriously injured when their pickup truck went off the road on Saturday, Oct. 9, and rolled several times, ejecting all three.
According to e-mail accounts and a Web site created by family members, Bill Kahle, his son Scott and their friend Kevin Duff were all transported to Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, where they were being treated for a number of serious injuries.
Bill Kahle had a broken pelvis, a few fractured transversal vertebrae bones, a nickel-sized brain contusion, broken glass in the side of his face, and a sliced ear.
Scott Kahle had a collapsed lung, facial scrapes, a tear on his spleen and a fractured C7 vertebrae. Specialists at the hospital said the C7 fracture would likely heal by itself, but Scott would have to wear a neck brace for about three months and won’t be racing for the Whitefish Mountain Resort Ski Team this year.
Kevin Duff, a Whitefish attorney, suffered several broken ribs, two collapsed lungs, major internal bleeding, and two broken bones in his left arm and wrist.
The three departed Whitefish on Friday, Oct. 8, in a Ford 150 pickup with another friend, Doug Reed to do some bird hunting in eastern Montana. They met another friend, Morton Steenstrup, in Chester.
The next day, the Kahles and Duff departed in the pickup, with Scott, a 15-year-old freshman at Whitefish High School, driving. Reed and Steenstrup were in a Jeep. Three hunting dogs were in the pickup’s bed, which had a topper.
After hunting all morning, they stopped at a block-management hunting site about 2:15 p.m. and then proceeded east on a paved road. According to a preliminary investigation by a Montana Highway Patrol trooper, the pickup was going about 53 mph when a tire went off the right side of the road. Scott Kahle steered left to get the truck back on the road and then overcorrected back to the right, causing the pickup to roll.
Reed and Steenstrup hurried back to the wreck and found the three ejected about 40 feet from the vehicle. None were wearing seat belts. The three dogs were walking around the wreckage. Unable to contact 911, Reed drove about 400 yards to a nearby farm house where he got through to emergency services.
The Kahles and Duff were conscious but in severe pain. For the next 30 minutes, Reed and Steenstrup concentrated on restricting the victims’ movement, keeping airways clear and trying to prevent them from going into shock.
Two ambulances transported the three about 25 miles to a hospital in Conrad. Shortly afterwards, Duff was life-flighted to Great Falls, while the Kahles were transported to the same hospital by ambulance.
Family members and close friends quickly gathered in Great Falls, including Bill Kahle’s parents John and Helen Kahle, and Duff’s father Dale Duff.