Snowmobiler dies in accident

A snowmobiling accident in the North Idaho backcountry killed a 63-year-old Athol man Wednesday and kept rescue crews busy for hours as they tried to reach the scene, a remote area northeast of Interstate 90’s Fourth of July Pass.

Snow reached rescuers’ thighs as they trudged to the spot where friends said Nicholas P. Fiorovich was pinned by his snowmobile on the east side of Skittwish Mountain, Kootenai County sheriff’s Sgt. Matt Street said.

Fiorovich was with two friends when he tried to climb a hill in his snowmobile but decided to turn back and circumvent the hill instead, Street said. But his snowmobile rolled on top of him, and it took his friends about 15 minutes to reach him, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

By that time, Fiorovich wasn’t breathing, Street said.

His friends took turns performing CPR and climbing to a high spot in the area to talk by cell phone to rescuers for about an hour and a half while crews traveled to the site.

Rescuers reached the group about 2 p.m. Fiorovich’s body was transported from the scene about 5:45 p.m.

Officials are unsure how Fiorovich died. He had no signs of trauma on his body and may have suffered a heart attack or suffocated under the weight of the snowmobile, officials said.

Street estimated the distance between I-90 and the accident scene to be about 15 miles on snow-covered roads.

Fiorovich and his wife, Peggy, retired in Athol after working and raising children in California.

The Spokesman-Review published several letters to the editor from Fiorovich between 1998 and 1999, mainly about tax issues.