Three investigations into I-4 crashes underway

Friday, January 11, 2008

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Three investigations are underway into Wednesday's deadly I-4 accidents.

POLK COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- Three investigations are underway to find out how and why Wednesday's accidents on I-4 happened.

The Florida Highway Patrol is handling what caused the crash and the Florida Department of Agriculture is handling two other investigations.

None of the reports are complete yet.

The FHP is reconstructing the scene to determine who or what was at fault for the pileups. FHP district commander Capt. Cindy Williams said smoke was not entirely to blame for the accidents.

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"We didn't have a problem with the smoke until the fog settled in," Williams said. "So I think just looking at that angle, if it was just the smoke wouldn't we have had a problem all night when smoke was coming across the interstate?"

The Department of Agriculture said their investigation should be complete in about a week.

"We're fact finding at this point," said Terence McElroy from the Department of Agriculture. "I think it would be premature to say what kind of actions would be taken. The fact is we simply want to determine what role the prescribed burn the FWC was conducting contributed to the larger wildfire."

FWC controlled burn plan

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has released copies of their approved burn plan.

The documents show conditions were checked until 1 p.m. Tuesday. Winds were low up to that time. A FWC spokesperson said the Division of Forestry monitored conditions after Tuesday afternoon.

"I'm sure the investigation will show that our people did everything according to Hoyle and according to the standards set and prescribed by Division of Forestry," said Gary Morse from the FWC.