Driver in fatal wreck identified

By RICHARD LUKEN
Register Reporter

Raul A. Sinckler, 34, Kansas City, Kan., was killed when the pickup he was driving crashed near Humboldt on U.S. 169 Monday morning.
The crash was one of several blamed on icy roads and bridges.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Sinckler and two passengers, Jose Ortiz, 36, and Victor Contreros, 27, both of Kansas City, were ejected from the pickup after it slid on the ice, struck a guard rail and overturned in the roadway.
After overturning, the vehicle caught fire and was engulfed in flames by the time emergency crews arrived.
The pickup was towing a Travalong trailer that wound up in an east ditch.
Just after the accident, a southbound car driven by Aaron R. Wight, 36, Iola, struck the back of a car driven by Amy C. Wickley, 45, Overland Park, who had stopped due to the pickup wreck.
Wight was taken to ACH for treatment of his injuries. Wickley was not injured.

THE DRIVING conditions quickly became hazardous in isolated parts of the county after localized reports of precipitation mixed with temperatures just below freezing.
“It was sort of a fluke thing,” said Gary Ward of the Kansas Department of Transportation.
When wintry weather is imminent, KDOT crews will pre-treat highways and bridges with a liquid salt brine mixture.
Ward noted that forecasts for icy weather had lessened through the weekend.
“We thought the stronger chance for icy roads was going to be Sunday morning,” Ward said.
A KDOT employee was dispatched to various bridges and roadways early Sunday to monitor the road conditions. The employee was not sent out early Monday because the forecasts didn’t indicate severe weather was imminent.
“There’s really not anything we would do differently because it was so isolated,” Ward said.
KDOT crews were sent to treat the icy bridges shortly shortly after sunrise after the surfaces becam treacherous.