BLAINE, Minn. – (Sept. 1, 2016) – A fatal accident on 35-W in Blaine on Aug. 27 has led to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide. A crew of nine firefighters from Michigan was on their way to Utah to help fight wildfires, when the fire truck started to veer off the road. The driver, Michael Allen Johnson, over corrected and drove the fire truck into the cable median between the north and southbound lanes.
One of the passengers in the truck was pronounced dead at the scene, and another died at Mercy Hospital. Johnson admitted to law enforcement that he had recently used both cocaine and marijuana.
He said that he fell asleep while driving and woke up when someone in the truck yelled that he was going off the road.
Johnson could face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of homicide.
