Fiery I-75 crash kills 1, injures 3

The Tennessee Highway Patrol says that one person died and three other people were injured on Aug. 27 in an accident involving at least one passenger vehicle and two semi-trucks that caught fire. The crash happened in Campbell County on Interstate 75 shortly after 3 p.m.

According to police statements, a northbound semi-truck traveled over the median near Caryville and collided with another semi-truck head-on. Witnesses of the truck accident said that they heard three or four explosions. The southbound semi-truck was carrying oxidizing materials, which accelerate fire, and the northbound truck was transporting batteries. Authorities said that no radioactive materials were involved.

THP officials confirmed that three people were injured. Two of them were firefighters who responded to the accident, according to Campbell County 911 dispatchers. The injured patients were airlifted to University of Tennessee Medical Center via Lifestar helicopter, but authorities did not disclose their conditions. The 49-year-old male driver of the semi-truck that was carrying batteries died in the crash.

Due to the chemical fire, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials evacuated everyone within a half-mile radius of the scene and shut down the interstate in both directions. The evacuation order was lifted about 6:30 p.m. One hour later, THP reopened some of the interstate, but the crash site was not cleared until about 2 a.m.

When people are injured in commercial truck accidents, they could be entitled to compensation from the at-fault parties, which might include the companies that own the trucks, if the accidents were caused because of a commercial driver’s negligence. Such compensation might help the plaintiffs recover the cost of medical care and the wages that they lost while they were recovering from their injuries. Plaintiffs who suffer debilitating injuries could also be compensated for the loss of future wages.

Source: WVLT, “One killed, three injured in explosive I-75 head-on tractor trailer crash”, August 28, 2014