A North Pole man seeking help for a friend, injured in mishaps involving three vehicles, was taken into custody on previous charges during the New Year's Day incident.
According to a Tuesday dispatch from Alaska State Troopers, a weathered-in Alaska wildlife trooper near Mile 108 of the Steese Highway was contacted by 21-year-old Shawn Kirkvold at about 5:30 a.m. Jan. 1.
Troopers said Kirkvold and the injured man, who arrived at Mile 108 on a snowmachine, had been headed east on the highway in a car that became "stuck in a snowdrift" at Mile 83, northeast of Fairbanks.
"They abandoned the car and found two snowmachines parked on a trailer nearby," troopers wrote. "Kirkvold and the other man then rode about 20 miles eastbound until they collided with each other near Mile 105 of the Steese Highway. The collision resulted in the other man having a serious leg injury."
Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said wildlife trooper Tim Abbott was hunkered down against blizzard-like conditions in an unmarked vehicle when the two men came across him.
"No one would know that a trooper was inside," Peters said. "The trooper heard the snowmachine roll up and (then) calls for help, and he got out."
Abbott was able to provide the men with survival gear to warm them as he performed first aid and called for help.
"They were moderately dressed -- they weren't dressed for being out on snowmachines, in temperatures down to the teens," Peters said.
The injured man was flown to a hospital by a Black Hawk helicopter from the Army's 1-52nd Aviation Regiment based at Fort Wainwright.
"Kirkvold stayed on scene with the troopers; he did not have any life-threatening injuries," Peters said.
After Kirkvold was evaluated by medical staff, troopers arrested him on two outstanding probation-related warrants; he was held on a total of $40,000 bail from the warrants at the Fairbanks Correctional Center.
"The circumstances surrounding how the snowmachines were acquired (are) under investigation," troopers wrote.
Despite the ongoing investigation, Peters said finding Abbott could have been the difference between life and death for the two men.
"They're really lucky they ran into the trooper," Peters said.
Correction: An initial version of this story inaccurately stated that an Army Black Hawk helicopter flew Kirkvold to a medical assessment. He received ground transport.