A car-truck collision that occurred Wednesday morning in Pierce County left one man dead.

Twenty-year-old Seth Nelson, of Bottineau, was killed in a fiery car accident 11 miles north of Rugby.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, a 2010 Isuzu truck owned by Schwan Food Company – driven by 34-year-old Darek Falcon, of Belcourt – and Nelson’s 2003 Chevy Impala traveled north on N.D. 3. Falcon’s vehicle started slowing to turn left onto 77th Street NE and the Impala rear-ended the Schwan truck, rotated counterclockwise before coming to rest on the shoulder of N.D. 3 facing southwest. The truck was pushed up three feet and came to rest in the middle of N.D. 3. The Impala then erupted in flames.

The Rugby Rural Fire Department and Pierce County Sheriff’s Department responded. After responding to the crash, Highway Patrolman Nevon Heisler was treated for smoke inhalation at an area hospital and released soon afterward.

Rugby firefighter Levi Heisler was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure after suffering a pinched finger during extrication efforts.

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

– Tribune Staff Report