Deadly Barron County construction zone crash

An UP man is dead and a Rice Lake woman faces life-threatening injuries after a crash in a Barron County construction zone on Wednesday afternoon.

It happened around 5:30 p.m near Haugen on the southbound side of Highway 53 about a half a mile south of 28th Avenue. The area was under construction at the time. Traffic was moved head-to-head configuration on the northbound side of the highway.

In their investigation, the Wisconsin State Patrol learned from witnesses found a minivan was passing the northbound vehicles in the wrong lane of traffic when it struck a sedan towing a motorcycle trailer. The driver of the sedan suffered fatal injuries. He’s been identified as Ira Michael Luplow (71) from Menominee, Michigan.

The mini-van driver is a 56-year-old woman from Rice Lake. She was airlifted by LifeLink to Eau Claire Mayo.

The crash report says everyone was wearing their seatbelts, and alcohol is not a factor.

Traffic on Highway 53 was detoured for about 3.5 hours. The Barron County Sheriff’s Office also responded.