FHP: 11 Dead In Wrecks On I-75 In Gainesville Fla
Fiery I-75 Crash In Florida Kills 11
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. A long line of cars and trucks collided one after another early Sunday on I-75 in Alachua County. The Florida Highway Patrol says it happened around 4:00 a.m. in both the northbound and southbound lanes at mile marker 379.
Both north and south lanes of I-75 will remain closed until the roadway is cleared. The following detour routes should be used until further notice.
For travelers using northbound Interstate 75, they will be required to exit at the CR 318 exit which is near the 368 mile marker, then travel east until they get to US 441, and travel can resume northbound. For travelers using southbound Interstate 75, they will be required to exit at the Williston Road exit which is the 382 mile marker. Travelers can then travel west to US 27, to resume travel southbound.
There were at least twelve passenger cars and approximately seven semi-trucks involved resulting in 10 fatalities. At least eighteen others were transported to Shands Hospital in Gainesville and other local hospitals. Both north and south lanes of I-75 will remain closed until the roadway is cleared.
FHP says the highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were virtually blinded. Visibility was so poor that when rescuers first arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans to locate victims, police said.
Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire that may have been intentionally set.
Photographs of the scene revealed a gruesome aftermath, with twisted, burned-out vehicles scattered across the pavement and smoke still rising above the wreckage. Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.
Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw one tractor-trailer that was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. Bodies were still visible inside a burned-out Grand Prix. The rubber on the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.
State police estimated that wreckage was strewn for nearly a mile in both directions.
Steven R. Camps, 23, of Gainesville, said he and some friends were driving home early Sunday morning in separate vehicles.
His friend was ahead of them as they headed toward Gainesville on Interstate 75 and called to warn them of heavy fog and smoke. The friend told Camps he had just seen an accident and warned them to be careful as they approached the Paynes Prairie area just south of Gainesville.
A short time later, Camps said traffic stopped along the northbound lanes because of heavy smoke and fog.
“You couldn’t see anything. People were pulling off the road,” he said.
Camps said he and his friend began talking to a man in the car stopped next to them about the road conditions, when another vehicle hit them man’s car.
Camps said the man’s vehicle was crushed under a semi-truck stopped in front of them. Camps said his car was hit twice, but he and his friend were able to jump out. They took cover in the grass on the shoulder of the road.
“You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy,” he said. “If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of world.”
He said cars and trucks were on fire and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.
“It was happening on both sides of the road, so there was nowhere to go. It blew my mind,” he said. “It was like a war zone. It literally looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them.”
At least 18 people were treated at an area hospital. Ten remained hospitalized early Sunday afternoon.
All six lanes of the interstate — which runs virtually the entire length of Florida — remained closed at midday as investigators surveyed the site and firefighters sprayed foam on the wreckage to put out the last of the fires.
At some point before the pileup, police briefly closed the highway because of the fog and smoke, which came from a fire in the Paynes Prairie area south of Gainesville. The road was reopened when visibility improved.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan said he was not sure how much time passed between the reopening of the highway and the first crash.
Traffic was being diverted onto U.S. 301 and State Road 27, Riordan said.
Ludie Bond, a Florida Forest Service spokeswoman, said the fire began Saturday, and investigators are determining whether the fire was intentionally set or caused by accident. She said there were no controlled burns in the area and no lightning.
She said the fire had burned 62 acres and was contained but still burning Sunday. She said a similar fire nearby has been burning since mid-November because the dried vegetation is so thick and deep. She said no homes are threatened.
Four years ago, heavy fog and smoke were blamed for another serious crash.
In January 2008, four people were killed and 38 injured in a series of similar crashes on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa, about 125 miles south of Sunday’s crash. More than 70 vehicles were involved in those crashes, including one pileup that involved 40 vehicles.
Several dead in multiple crashes on I-75: MyFoxTAMPABAY.com
Comments