By Josh Margolis
CHINOOK, Mont. (NMB) – A 41-year-old Butte woman and her dog were struck and killed by a train on Saturday afternoon near Chinook.
The Blaine County Sheriff’s Office reports that at 4:48 PM on Saturday, they were notified that a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train had struck a pedestrian at Lodge Creek, just east of Chinook.
At around the same time, Dispatch received a 911 call from a male reporting his wife had been struck by the train.
Along with the Sheriff’s Office, authorities from Blaine County Fire and Ambulance were also at the scene. A Deputy located the female and her dog under the train and requested the Coroner be dispatched to the scene.
Authorities removed the body from the tracks and delivered them to Wilderness Funeral Home.
The victim’s husband told the Sheriff that she had got out of the vehicle to take a picture of a pheasant, and then took the dog she was training to smell the area the pheasant had been.
A train was westbound at the time, and it appears that the female did not know the train was coming. It was at that time that the train struck and killed the woman and her dog.
The Blaine County Sheriff’s Office is withholding the name of the victim until the family is notified.
Other agencies that assisted include the Montana Highway Patrol, Chinook Police Department, and BNSF Police.
The investigation is being conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and BNSF Police.
