Kansas Highway Patrol IDs driver of wrecked combine rescued after US-24 crash

The driver of a combine sustained injuries that weren’t believed to be life-threatening Friday in a crash that left the combine overturned at the bottom of a 30-foot embankment.

The crash, which also involved a semi, occurred just after 3 p.m. on US-24 highway at N.E. Happy Hollow Road.

Topeka Fire Marshal Mike Martin at the scene described the man’s injuries as serious. His injuries — initially thought to be life-threatening — were downgraded after a Topeka Fire Department technical rescue team was able to extricate the man from the overturned combine and further assess his condition.

Martin said the firefighters initiated a rope rescue because the man was trapped inside the combine, which left the road at a bridge over Soldier Creek and landed at the bottom of a 30-foot embankment.

The Kansas Highway Patrol late Friday identified the combine’s driver as Andrew J. Voegeli, 25, of Tecumseh. According to the patrol’s online crash log, the combine and the semi hauling a grain trailer were westbound when the semi rear-ended the combine, which was using both lanes.

Voegeli wasn’t wearing a seat belt, according to the online crash log.

Avoid Highway 24 and Happy Hollow Road. Serious accident westbound lanes closed pic.twitter.com/2G2GHndtm0

— Topeka Fire Dept (@Topekafire) October 20, 2017

The semi remained upright on the bridge, and its driver — identified by the patrol as Patrick B. Schafer, 59, of Perry — wasn’t taken to a hospital, Martin said.

Martin said a hazardous materials team would be cleaning up a small amount of fuel that leaked into Soldier Creek from one of the wrecked vehicles. He believed the leak had been stopped and that the amount of fuel spilled shouldn’t cause concern to the public.

Westbound lanes of US-24 were closed to traffic in the area. While eastbound lanes remained open, traffic was moving slowly past the crash scene.

The Kansas Highway Patrol continued to investigate the crash. Martin said the Kansas Department of Transportation expected westbound US-24 to remain closed for several hours.

Estimating at least 6 hours before west bound US Highway 24 will open west of Happy Hollow Rd. pic.twitter.com/iml3NDEeOk

— Topeka Fire Dept (@Topekafire) October 20, 2017