Driver Drowns After Car Plunges Into Lake Isp Says Alcohol Suspected In Accident At Fernan Lake
A car plunged into Fernan Lake early Thursday, killing an unidentified man, in the second Kootenai County drowning accident in 10 days.
Kootenai County sheriff’s divers pulled the man from a tan 1990 Nissan Sentra that had gone off Fernan Lake Drive on a straight stretch of road.
The accident appears to be alcohol-related, Idaho State Police said.
A logger noticed the car about 6:40 a.m. near the northeast corner of the lake, said sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger.
“One back corner of the car was kind of sticking out of the lake,” Wolfinger said.
Divers found the car on its side in about 6 feet of water.
A small oil slick had begun to form around the car, indicating it had been in the lake for several hours, Wolfinger said.
Troopers said the driver, whose name was being withheld until family members are notified of his death, took no evasive action before the car left the road. Alcohol was found in the car, the ISP said.
The accident occurred six months after a 19-year-old Meridian, Idaho, man drove his car into the lake and drowned after attending a bonfire party at Lake Fernan.
Jeffrey T. Seamons had been drinking and was driving too fast as he headed west on Fernan Road, ISP investigators said. Three passengers in Seamons’ car escaped and swam to shore.
More recently, an alcohol-related accident killed two people in Hayden Lake on Sept. 15.
Thursday’s drowning marked the sixth in North Idaho waters in the past eight weeks.
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