Elm Grove Accident: More Details

The original reports about the minivan - train accident yesterday had some inaccuracies.

The mother did not have an infant and two toddlers in the minivan with her when it was struck by a train.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Headed to the Elm Grove Memorial Day parade in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Monica Ensley-Partenfelder found herself and her 2-year-old son directly in the path of a 94-car freight train barreling toward them, whistle blaring.

What should have been a festive start to the holiday instead turned into a frantic effort to save the woman and boy in the moments before the train struck their minivan head-on about 9:30 a.m. Monday.

A police officer, John Krahn, 41, assigned the routine duty of parade traffic control, sprinted to the scene and freed 40-year-old Ensley-Partenfelder, of West Allis. Her husband, Scott Partenfelder, 47, who was stuck in traffic in a different vehicle nearby on Juneau Blvd., tried to unhook the 2-year-old from a car seat.

He couldn't get him out.

The force of the impact created an explosive effect, hurtling the minivan across the grass - crushed and collapsed. Much of the driver's side was gone.

The 2-year-old in the car seat was brought out, miraculously, uninjured.

Karen Gray-Hoehn, who was three cars from the tracks when she saw the crash, watched the railroad signals go on. Then the gates came down. Krahn sprinted from his parade post.

"He started running toward the tracks. He yelled. He told the woman to gun it, get over the railroad tracks," Gray-Hoehn said. "We could hear it, smell it. She gunned the thing. Her wheels turned and got stuck on the railroad track. The car flipped and faced the train. We could see the front tire spinning in the gravel on the side of the tracks itself."

Krahn ran up and opened the front door. He grabbed the woman and went to open the side door, where her husband was trying to rescue the boy.

Then the train hit the van. Gray-Hoehn watched its brutal force throw the two men, with pieces of the smashed van following.

...Krahn and Partenfelder underwent surgery at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. The officer was listed in satisfactory condition Monday night. Partenfelder was in critical condition.

...Partenfelder's sister, Peggy Partenfelder-Moede, said their family was thankful for all of the professionals involved. She was watching the couple's children after the crash. Two of the children had been with their father in a vehicle near their mother's.

...Partenfelder-Moede said the boy who was in the van was saved by his car seat, which "didn't move an inch."

This accident shows how important it is to have infants and toddlers properly secured in car seats.

If not for his car seat, who knows what would have happened to this little boy?

It also draws attention to the fact that you should never stop your car on railroad tracks. Wait until you can safely get across.

Officer John Krahn and Scott Partenfelder both acted heroically.

Partenfelder was desperately trying to save his wife and child. Officer Krahn didn't have that personal connection, yet he acted as if he were trying to get his own wife and son from the minivan.

It's an incredible story. And hopefully, it will have a happy ending.

According to Canadian Pacific's spokesman Mike LoVecchio, the "engineer saw what was happening, blew the train's horn and braked, but because it takes as much as a half mile to come to a complete stop, there was nothing he could do to prevent striking the vehicle."

It can take a half mile for a train to stop. Since a train can't stop on a dime, it's up to drivers to stay clear of tracks.