A semi-trailer truck driver was killed in a fiery crash on I-95 just before the Palm Coast Parkway exit in mid-afternoon Monday. No one else was involved.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the trucker was traveling south in the outermost of the three lanes when, according to witnesses, he “gradually veered off the roadway onto the west grass shoulder,” and continued in a southwesterly direction into the woods. The truck crashed into a tree and burst into flames, quickly becoming fully engulfed.
The crash was reported at 4:01 p.m. The Palm Coast Fire Department sent three engines and a tender truck, among other resources, which also included Flagler County Fire Rescue.
The Palm Coast Fire Department’s Gary Potter was the battalion chief at the scene. We were dispatched initially to a semi trailer in the woodline then it was upgraded to the cab was on fire,” Potter said. It was fully involved when firefighters arrived. By then several trucks and others had stopped in attempts to help, according to 911 dispatch notes.
Nevertheless, firefighters went into rescue mode, using a technique applied in these situations: “We put the hoseline at a wide fog on the nozzle,” Potter said. “That protects us, almost like a curtain. It brings in oxygen behind us, and pushes the fire away so we can do work right behind the hose line there.”
The firefighters thus accessed the interior of the cab. The crew was able to pop the door open with extrication tools and tried to get the driver out, shielded from flames all around. “He was pinned inside with one of the seats. We tried to get him out. We could not. He was already deceased at that point,” Potter said.
The driver was pronounced deceased at 4:19 p.m. Th fire was declared under control at 4:23 p.m., and fully extinguished at 4:32, according to dispatch notes.
“At a scene like that you’re not sure what you’re in,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill said. “You assume you’re in rescue mode, but the second we made access to the victim based on the fire, we knew we were in recovery mode.”
Firefighters controlled and extinguished the fire within minutes using foam and water before turning over the scene to FHP. The truck had spilled a considerable amount of diesel, none on the roadway. The cleanup was the responsibility of the trucking company’s contractor, though the Division of Environmental Protection also reported to the scene. The trailer was empty, Potter said.
FHP’s release did not identify the identity of the driver, in keeping with FHP’s custom, though in this case it also did not disclose the age of the driver, nor had next-of-kin notification been made, suggesting that his identity may not have been confirmed yet.
Traffic on I-95 was never entirely halted. Travel was initially reduced to one lane, then expanded to two before the highway reopened to normal traffic.
The crash resulted in the fifth road fatality on Flagler County roads this year, all of those fatalities taking place in the last 10 days. Two of the victims were motorcyclists in separate incidents at the beginning and end of Bike Week.
Roy says
Great job by Palm Coast and Flagler County on a difficult situation.