Disaster on Interstate 4

Thursday, January 10, 2008

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Interstate 4 is shut down between the Polk Parkway and Highway 27 in Polk County after the dense smoke led to several car crashes. (slideshow)

POLK COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- Interstate 4 in Polk County remains closed after the Wednesday morning accidents that killed at least four people.

Smoky conditions from Tuesday's controlled burn that grew out of control, as well as morning fog, led to the crashes.

The accidents took place in a 14 mile stretch of I-4 near Polk City. The interstate will likely be closed all of Wednesday and perhaps into Thursday.

The accidents began about 5 a.m. Wednesday. There were two large pileups, one involving 41 vehicles and one involving 19 vehicles.

Witnesses said visibility was less than five feet.

People involved in the crashes said they couldn't see what was happening; they could only hear the screeching of metal as multiple vehicles plowed into each other.

"It was just crash after crash after crash," one eyewitness said.

Steve Webb of Webb's Towing had 20 vehicles working the crash site picking up mangled, burned out semis.

"Everytime we go to pick something up it falls to pieces," Webb said later in the evening.

The latests figures are:

Four fatalities
38 people transported to hospitals
Five life-threatening injuries
20 tractor trailers involved
Six trailers destroyed
Five cars on fire
70 total vehicles involved

The Interstate is closed between the Polk Parkway and U.S. Highway 27.

A spokesperson with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) said a 650 foot stretch of road that was burned and melted under many of the semi trucks in the accident will be resurfaced starting about midnight after all the burned vehicles are removed.

After FDOT workers finish scraping off the burned roadway and putting down new asphalt they have to put new lane stripes on the road. But they still don't know when I-4 will be opened.

Sheriff: A 'major disaster'

At a press conference late Wednesday morning, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described the scene as a "major disaster" on I-4.

"We have a very intense situation here," Judd said. "Our firefighters and certainly our EMT's went into a situation where you could see absolutely nothing in front of you. It was as if you hit a wall of smoke and fog."

More Information

Judd said one of his deputies, Carlton Turner, was involved in one of the first accidents and tried to help afterwards.

"He said to me' I did all that I could but I watched a man burn to death today and I heard others screaming and crying,'" Judd said.

Victims with the most serious injuries were taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, which is the closest trauma center from the accident scene.

Earlier Wednesday, the hospital activated their emergency preparedness plan for mass casualties. That has since been deactivated.

Less seriously injured victims were taken to Winter Haven Hospital.

Controlled burn contributes to crashes

After a controlled burn escaped the perimeter on Tuesday afternoon, the blaze quickly grew near I-4 and Old Grade Road, near mile marker 55.

Complicating matters was a previous hot spot that flared up on Tuesday and merged with the controlled burn fire.

Officials started another controlled burn Wednesday morning, which added to the already smoky conditions.

Firefighters had to deal with car fires throughout the morning as well as monitor the brush fire that consumed more than 600 acres of rural land near mile marker 55.

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