Harvest season turned tragic in rural Cass County on Thursday, when a combine and a BNSF train collided about five miles northwest of Page, killing the combine driver.

Troopers with the North Dakota Highway Patrol said the 33-year-old man from Colgate, N.D., was found dead inside the combine after the collision. The impact caused the lead engine of the train to catch fire and derailed nearly two dozen train cars. Crews with BNSF are still arriving to begin cleanup operations, which could take several days.

Just before 11 a.m., the 2020 John Deere combine was headed south on a township road about five miles south of Page, N.D., when it ran into the side of the westbound lead engine. The rail crossing is marked but not controlled.

The impact caused the lead locomotive to catch fire, and approximately 20 train cars derailed, spilling cargo into nearby fields, law enforcement officials said.

The combine driver died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. The train’s engineer and conductor escaped without injury before the fire.

“The engineer and the conductor of that train were able to witness what was about to occur. They were able to brace for impact, they were able to hit the emergency brakes of the train, they were utilizing their whistle, they utilized it more than they needed to to try and get the attention of the combine operator,” Capt. Bryan Niewind of the North Dakota Highway Patrol told WDAY News.

“As these rail cars are derailing, that combine became intermingled with some of those rail cars,” Niewind said.

Officials hope the crash serves as a reminder during harvest season.

“These uncontrolled intersections, it’s very important for people not to get complacent. Maybe you haven’t seen a train there in two years, but as you approach those intersections, you do need to be clearing those, so you need to look both ways to see if there is a train,” Niewind said.

A news release from the North Dakota Highway Patrol said 133rd Avenue Southeast will be closed north and south of the tracks for 34 to 48 hours. Drivers and residents were asked to avoid the area.

Authorities are still waiting to see if the camera on board the train was working to help piece together the events that led to the tragedy.

The crash remains under investigation by the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

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After the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension became aware of DWI testing instruments giving incorrect information, it has asked that law enforcement agencies around the state inspect their devices.

Two DataMaster DMT instruments, which measure breath alcohol levels, were discovered on Friday to have data entry errors that are related to gas cylinder installation on the devices. Those two devices with errors were in Olmsted County, potentially affecting 108 cases, and in Hennepin County, potentially affecting 38 cases, according to a news release from the BCA on Friday night.

Earlier, the BCA found errors in Aitkin, Winona and Chippewa counties.

The BCA is requiring local law enforcement agencies to “immediately review and verify dry gas cylinder data has been entered correctly into DataMaster instruments (DMT) currently being used.”

The BCA has ordered the suspension of all DMT usage until agencies verify the gas cylinder data in each instrument. In addition, the release said, “all gas cylinder replacements and maintenance” will be done by BCA personnel starting immediately, and the BCA plans to update its DMT maintenance procedures.

“This requirement follows the discovery of multiple data entry errors by trained operators during the installation of gas cylinders in the instrument,” the release said, but the agencies using the DWI testing instruments are “not necessarily responsible for the error as multiple law enforcement agencies use each instrument.”

“The BCA is committed to the highest level of quality in our forensics lab, and this is why we are conducting this review,” said BCA Superintendent Drew Evans. “We appreciate our law enforcement partners’ prompt attention to this inspection process.”

Law enforcement personnel who administer the breath tests and maintain the DMT instrument are specially trained in their use by the BCA.

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State officials say an inmate at Rush City Prison died Thursday afternoon after what authorities believe was an altercation with the man’s cellmate.

Few details were available about the death on Friday afternoon as the investigation continued.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections gave the following details:

Shortly before 1:30 p.m. Thursday, correctional officers were called about a person down in a cell. They found a man with obvious injuries who was unresponsive. Despite lifesaving efforts from prison staff and local emergency medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead.

A preliminary investigation shows there may have been an altercation between the man and his cellmate. Investigators are looking into the circumstances that led up to the incident.

The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy to determine the manner and cause of death.

The death is being investigated by investigators from the state DOC’s special investigations unit, the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

The man’s identity is being withheld until his family is notified.

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Investigators said Friday that without any new leads about Doogie, a 33-year-old Farmington horse who went missing Sept. 24, they will have to call off the search efforts for him.

Despite a $2,000 reward, K9 scenting dogs, drones, flyers, social media posts, and volunteers scouring trails, fields and wooded areas, there has been no trace of the horse.

Terra Schuster, Doogie’s owner, said that time is critical in finding the horse because he is missing teeth and therefore requires a specialized and costly diet.

“This horse means the world to me,” she said. “He’s not just a pet — he’s family. Horses don’t just vanish into thin air.”

Schuster described Doogie as “a sweet old soul who’s been with me through every chapter of life.”

About eight years ago, Doogie had all his teeth removed because of a medical issue, Schuster said Friday. He was put on a diet of mush and kept in a stall at night. During the day, he loves being in the pasture with his herd. Schuster said he’s “incredibly bonded to them.”

On Sept. 9, Doogie had a checkup and was given a clean bill of health, she said. “His heart rate was strong, no murmurs, his eyes looked good, and his bloodwork didn’t show any underlying issues.”

During the exam, the horse kept “calling out for his friends,” Schuster said. “At one point, he even broke away and ran down to the fence line just to see them. As many horse people in Minnesota know, horses rarely stray far from their herd when they get loose.”

On Sept. 24, Schuster was told her horse was missing. That evening she learned that two of the three fence lines in the pasture were down.

“Strangely, none of the other horses had left the pasture,” she said.

An investigator said Friday that they had no leads that would allow them to continue looking into Doogie’s disappearance, she said. “They also checked with their drone team, but this situation doesn’t meet the criteria for drone deployment.”

Farmers own much of the surrounding land, she said.

“And a few have asked that we not search their fields — whether on foot, horseback, or by drone — due to ongoing soybean harvesting and the upcoming corn harvest,” she said. “Thankfully, some neighbors have been incredibly kind, driving around and keeping an eye out. Two young kids even called to ask if I knew which direction Doogie might have gone. They had their mom drive them around to look for him and helped hang up posters in town.”

Schuster said she feels blessed by all the kind words, prayers and encouragement.

“There is no relationship quite like a little girl and her pony,” she said. “I have a (Facebook reel) of me calling for Doogie, and you can’t even see him high up on the pasture at our old barn — then you hear him call back and slowly making his way to me — then running.  I will cherish that memory for the rest of my life.”

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