A winter storm that briefly turned North Texas into a sledding playground has ended in heartbreak in Frisco, where a 16-year-old girl died and another teen is fighting for her life after a truck-pulled sled slammed into a tree. What started as a quick thrill ride on icy streets during Winter Storm Fern has now become a sobering reminder of how fast “just having fun” can turn deadly. Neighbors, classmates, and city officials are now trying to process how a familiar suburban intersection became the site of a tragedy.
According to police, the teens were part of a small group that headed out to enjoy the rare sleet and ice, only to have their afternoon cut short in a matter of seconds. Investigators say the sled hit a curb, then a tree, leaving both girls with life-threatening injuries and sending shockwaves through a community that had been sharing snow-day photos only hours earlier.
The moment a snow day turned tragic
In the middle of Winter Storm Fern, as People wandered Dallas neighborhoods snapping photos of ice-coated lawns and about 1 to 1.5 inches of sleet, a group of teenagers in Frisco decided to make the most of the rare weather. According to the Frisco Police Department, the girls were riding on a sled being towed behind a vehicle on a residential street in Frisco on Sunday afternoon when things went horribly wrong. What had been a quick, improvised winter activity shifted in an instant from laughter to panic as the sled veered off course.
Witnesses later told investigators that the sled struck a curb and then collided with a tree with enough force to leave both riders gravely hurt. Police say the two 16-year-old girls were found with life-threatening injuries after the impact, and the quiet neighborhood where they crashed quickly filled with flashing lights and first responders. The crash unfolded while Winter Storm Fern was still affecting the region, with icy conditions lingering from Sunday into Monday in Dallas and surrounding suburbs.
What investigators say happened on that Frisco street
According to the Frisco Police Department, the sledding accident in Frisco on Sunday involved more than just a simple downhill slide. Investigators say a 16-year-old boy was driving a truck and pulling two girls, also 16, on a sled when the sled hit a curb and struck a tree, a sequence that turned a common snow-day stunt into a deadly collision. The incident involved three teenagers in total, with the boy behind the wheel and the two girls riding on the sled as it was towed along the icy roadway.
Witnesses at the scene told officers that the sled lost its line behind the vehicle, clipped the curb, and then slammed into the tree, leaving the truck itself undamaged but the riders critically hurt. Fire and police officials responded to reports of the accident at about 2:26 p.m. near a neighborhood intersection, arriving to find the girls unresponsive and badly injured. Responding officers immediately called for medical transport while securing the area so paramedics could work without delay.
Life-threatening injuries and a desperate rush to the hospital
When officers and paramedics reached the crash site, they found both girls in extremely serious condition. Responding personnel reported that the teens had sustained life-threatening injuries from the impact with the tree, and they were quickly stabilized at the scene before being rushed to local hospitals. According to a city news release, the two females were transported separately, with medical teams working to manage severe trauma that went far beyond the bumps and bruises most people associate with sledding.
At the hospital, one of the girls succumbed to her injuries and died despite emergency treatment, while the other remained in critical condition as of the latest updates from police. Officials have described the surviving teen’s condition as critical but have not released additional medical details, citing privacy concerns. The Frisco Police Department has said the incident remains under investigation and that the cause has not yet been fully determined, even as they confirm that One Texas teenager died and another is still fighting for her life after the Sunday crash in North Texas.
How officials are piecing together the investigation
Frisco Police say a 16-year-old boy was driving the vehicle that towed the sled, and investigators are now working to determine exactly how fast he was going and whether any laws were broken. According to a press release, the department has not yet decided whether the driver will face criminal charges, and detectives are still interviewing Witnesses who saw the sled hit a curb and collide with the tree. The investigation includes a detailed look at the roadway, the condition of the truck, and the type of sled used, as officers try to understand how a short ride turned into a fatal crash.
City officials have said the case will be reviewed in coordination with the Denton County District Attorney’s Office once Frisco Police complete their work. Fire and police officials who responded to the scene have emphasized that “Your safety comes first,” a reminder that even familiar neighborhoods can become dangerous when vehicles and improvised sleds mix on icy streets. According to the Frisco Police Department, anyone who was in the area of the accident in Frisco on Sunday and has additional information has been asked to contact investigators to help fill in any remaining gaps.
A community stunned by the loss of a 16-year-old girl
News that One 16-year-old girl was killed and another was critically injured in FRISCO, Texas has hit the city hard, especially because the teens were simply trying to enjoy a rare winter storm. A Frisco teen died and another was critically injured in a sledding accident on Saturday, Jan. 24, according to one account that places the outing during the height of the icy weather, and neighbors say the intersection where the crash happened is usually just a quiet cut-through for local traffic. For many families, the idea that a teenager could leave home to play in the sleet and never come back is almost impossible to process.
Parents across Frisco have been talking with their own kids about what happened, trying to balance empathy for the teens involved with a renewed focus on safety. The fact that all three teenagers were 16, including the boy driving the truck, has only deepened the sense of heartbreak, since the crash involved classmates and peers rather than adults. In a city that prides itself on family-friendly neighborhoods and well-kept streets, the loss of a young life in such a preventable way has become a painful topic of conversation at schools, churches, and youth sports practices.
Winter Storm Fern and the lure of improvised sledding
Winter Storm Fern did what winter storms always do in North Texas: it turned normally dry suburbs into temporary playgrounds, with kids dragging out boogie boards, pool floats, and plastic lids to slide on the ice. People walked around Dallas on Sunday, taking in the novelty of sleet-covered sidewalks and snapping photos of cars dusted in white, while social feeds filled up with videos of makeshift sledding runs. In that atmosphere, it is not surprising that a group of teens in Frisco decided to hitch a sled to a truck and ride along the slick streets, even if it was a risky choice.
According to reports, the two girls were riding on a sled being pulled behind a vehicle on a residential street in Frisco when the sled hit a curb and struck a tree, a scenario that safety experts have long warned against. A Frisco teen died and another was critically injured in that crash, which unfolded while Winter Storm Fern was still affecting the region and while many families were still outside enjoying the weather. The storm may have brought only about 1 to 1.5 inches of sleet to parts of Dallas and its suburbs, but that thin layer was enough to turn pavement into a slick surface where a small mistake could have devastating consequences.
Why towing sleds with vehicles is so dangerous
On paper, towing a sled behind a truck or Jeep can sound like a clever workaround when there are no big hills nearby, but the physics are brutal once something goes wrong. A 16-year-old boy driving a truck that is pulling two girls on a sled has far less control over their path than it might seem, especially on ice, where even a small steering correction can send the sled fishtailing toward a curb or parked car. When that sled hit a curb and struck a tree in Frisco, the girls absorbed the full force of the impact, with no seat belts, no airbags, and no protective frame around them.
Police and safety officials have repeatedly warned that using motor vehicles to tow sleds is not just a bad idea, it is inherently dangerous, because the riders can be whipped into fixed objects at speeds that turn a fun ride into a high-impact crash. In this case, the sled was being pulled on a public street, where curbs, mailboxes, and trees line the roadway, and where even a momentary loss of control can be catastrophic. The fact that One Texas teenager is now dead and another is in critical condition after a sled-towing accident in North Texas on Sunday underscores how quickly a “snow day hack” can cross the line into life-threatening territory.
How officials and reporters are framing the stakes
City leaders in Frisco have tried to strike a careful tone, acknowledging the grief of the families while also using the moment to warn others about similar risks. In a news release, officials noted that the two females were transported to local hospitals where one succumbed to her injuries and died at the hospital, and the other is in critical condition, a stark summary that leaves little room to downplay what happened. The city has also highlighted that the incident remains under investigation and that the Denton County District Attorney’s Office will review the case once police complete their work.
Reporters covering the story have emphasized that the incident involved three teenagers and that the sled hit a curb and collided with a tree, details that drive home how a familiar suburban street can become deadly under the wrong conditions. Coverage has also pointed out that BY Christine Sanchez Texas PUBLISHED updates from FRISCO, Texas describe a 16-year-old who is dead and another who is in critical condition, while By Elissa Jorgensen and Aria Jones, Staff Writers, have noted that the case was Updated Jan with new information from police. Together, those accounts paint a consistent picture of a community grappling with a preventable tragedy that unfolded in a matter of seconds.
What parents and teens can take away from the Frisco crash
For families watching this story from across Texas and beyond, the hardest part is that the teens in Frisco were doing something that many kids have done in winters past. A Frisco teen died and another was critically injured in a sledding accident that started as a simple ride behind a vehicle on a slick neighborhood street, a scenario that might sound familiar to anyone who has ever tried to improvise winter fun in a flat city. The difference here is that the sled hit a curb and struck a tree, and the margin for error turned out to be far smaller than anyone expected.
Parents now have a concrete, local example to point to when they talk with their kids about why towing sleds with cars, trucks, or Jeeps is not just frowned upon but potentially lethal. According to a press release, A 16-year-old boy was driving a truck pulling two girls, also 16, on a sled when the sled hit a curb and struck a tree, a single sentence that captures both the innocence of the plan and the severity of the outcome. As the community in FRISCO, Texas mourns, the hope is that other teens will think twice before tying a rope to a bumper the next time ice coats the streets, and that conversations happening in living rooms this week might prevent another family from facing the same loss.
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