Sno-go rider killed in collision

BIG LAKE -- A Wasilla man died Tuesday evening after the snowmachine he was riding collided head-on with a truck on the Parks Highway, just north of the Big Lake Road turnoff. The crash happened around 6 p.m., and Wasilla area resident Calvin Dell Toal, 30, was pronounced dead at Valley Hospital's emergency room shortly after 7 p.m., according to the Alaska State Troopers.

Toal was riding southbound on the northbound edge of the highway when his 1996 Ski-doo collided head-on with a 1997 Mitsubishi pick-up driven by Joseph Salvin O'Brien, 34, of Fairbanks, according to troopers. O'Brien was traveling north on the Parks Highway, was wearing a seat belt and sustained only minor injuries, troopers said.

The 911 dispatch center in Palmer started paging emergency responders at 6:04, according to Jack Krill, director of public safety for the Mat-Su Borough. Big Lake ambulance and rescue personnel from station 81 responded and the Meadow Lakes ambulance and rescue personnel from station 71 were placed on standby during the call.

The first emergency workers arrived within three minutes, according to a timeline provided by Krill. The Big Lake ambulance was staffed with Emergency Medical Technicians who called for a paramedic from Wasilla to meet the ambulance en route to the hospital.

"They were met up by one of the borough paramedics -- stationed out of Wasilla -- who also assisted us in transporting the patient," Krill said.

According to Krill, the ambulance left the scene for the hospital at 6:24 p.m. with the EMTs administering CPR. The paramedic was stationed at the Wasilla Public Safety Building and joined the EMTs about four minutes later. Krill said paramedics can provide a higher level of medical attention than EMTs and it is not uncommon for EMTs to call for a paramedic after a serious accident.

"It's an opportunity for us to provide the highest level of medical attention that we can," Krill said. "We want to be able to give the patient every chance we can."

Troopers have said that O'Brien was driving with a suspended license, but trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said the Fairbanks man had not been cited. Wilkinson said alcohol is not suspected in the accident, and an investigation is ongoing.

Photos provided by the troopers show a guard rail along the highway at the accident scene. The accident happened close to the Houston city line, near where the highway crosses Little Meadow Creek.