Crash kills Spirit Lake official
Spirit Lake City Councilman Steve Gaddum was killed Thursday afternoon when his SUV collided with a train on the Rathdrum Prairie.
The crash occurred just before 3 p.m. between Lancaster Road and Wyoming Avenue where the Union Pacific rail line crosses Meyer Road.
Gaddum, 64, was heading north on Meyer Road in his 1996 Land Rover, and the train was westbound, Idaho State Police Capt. Wayne Longo said.
Longo said the Land Rover struck near the train’s engine, but it took the train nearly a half-mile to stop. The SUV suffered extreme damage and Gaddum – who apparently wasn’t wearing a seat belt – was ejected from the vehicle, Longo said.
There were no other passengers.
Gaddum, who was retired from the U.S. Navy and had lived in Spirit Lake 18 years, was elected to the City Council in 2005.
In an April 5 story in The Spokesman-Review, Gaddum said of Spirit Lake: “We have growth, and we’re trying to manage it while maintaining the quality of life we’ve had in this town.”
Spirit Lake Mayor Roxy Martin said Gaddum’s death was a loss to the entire community. He volunteered with a variety of organizations, including the Spirit Lake Food Bank and the Chamber of Commerce.
“He loved Spirit Lake and wanted to make this a nice place,” Martin said.
The state patrol asked anyone who witnessed Thursday’s crash to contact the agency.
Longo said he didn’t know how fast the train or Land Rover was traveling. Trains typically travel through the intersection – marked with cross-bar signs – at 40 to 45 mph, he said.
The train crossing was one location ISP focused on during recent emphasis patrols, Longo said. There have been a number of train-related accidents in recent months.
“It’s not been a good year,” Longo said.
A Liberty Lake man struck the side of a train near Idaho Road and Prairie Avenue in January, suffering minor injuries. That same week, a 24-year-old Athol man was struck by a train and killed while walking home from a bar.
Two men were killed in September at a Hayden Avenue train crossing.