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NSBNews.net photo at far left by Henry Frederick / Traffic is jammed just before midnight Thursday at the I-95 interchange with S.R. in New Smyrna Beach because of the shutdown of northbound lanes in Port Orange where a fiery crash involving three semis melted part of the road surface as shown in this courtesy photo. Below, construction crews began patching the asphalt service later in the day.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Spillover traffic from the northbound stretch of I-95 in Port Orange closed in the wake of the fiery crash involving three semis and a passenger car made for heavy traffic here in New Smyrna Beach late Thursday night, but dissipated early this morning after emergency repairs were completed and the interstate fully reopened.
The northbound lanes of I-95 were opened just after midnight Thursday near the Dunlawton Avenue ramp where the fiery crash nearly 24 hours earlier actually melted asphalt. One trucker lost his life and four others were sent to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach with non-life threatening injuries caused by a logging truck suddenly swerving from its lane and flipping, rolling logs across the interstate.
That caused a change reaction, gathering two more semis and a car with three people in it.
The 3:30 a.m.Thursday accident resulted in an intense fire with a series of intense explosions that woke up neighbors within a 1-mile radius, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said.
A passenger vehicle and three semis -- a U.S. Postal Service truck, a logging truck, and a double semi that was carrying methyl bromide (MeBr), an odorless, colorless gas used as a soil and structural fumigant to control pests -- were caught up in the fiery wreck.
For unknown reasons, the driver of the logger semi, John Winkler, 58, of San Mateo, lost control and overturned, spilling logs onto the roadway as a result. That in turn caused a chain reaction crash involving two other semis and a passenger car. The double semi caught fire and exploded, releasing methyl bromide into the air. The driver, 66-year-old Francis Trammel of Neptune Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Kim Montes said.
For unknown reasons, the driver of the logger semi, John Winkler, 58, of San Mateo, lost control and overturned, spilling logs onto the roadway as a result. That in turn caused a chain reaction crash involving two other semis and a passenger car. The double semi caught fire and exploded, releasing methyl bromide into the air. The driver, 66-year-old Francis Trammel of Neptune Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Kim Montes said.
Four patients were transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, one by Sheriff's Air One and three by EVAC Ambulance. The logger driver, Winkler, suffered minor injuries and was transported to Halifax. Samuel Behar, 68, of Miami, the postal mail driver, was treated on scene for minor injuries.
The lone passenger car involved in Thursday's fiery wreck is upside down. It was being driven by 16-year-old Victoria Granger, with her mom, Pamela Granger, 42, in the fronnt pasenger seat and her kid sister, Sabrina Granger, 14, in the back seat. Fortunately, all three were wearing their seatbelts and suffered minor injuries, the Floreida Highway Patrol said. the postal mail semi caugfht up in the wreck sustained damage, but the mail in the trailer was not damaged. It was loaded onto another truck to continue its delivery.
The occupants of the passenger car, a 1997 Mazda, 16-year-old driver Victoria Granger, her mother, Pamela Granger, 42, and her sister, Sabrina Granger, 14, of New York, were all hospitalized with minor injuries.
Port Orange Fire Rescue was assisted by firefighters from Volusia County Fire Services, the Daytona Beach Fire Department and Florida Forest Service assisted. Officials from Port Orange Fire Rescue advised residents east of the accident to stay indoors because of toxic smoke, but that advisory was lifted by mid-morning Thursday, Volusia County spokeswoman Pat Kuehn said.
The highway patrol had hoped to have the interstate reopened by early evening, but while unloading the hazardous materials from the burned tandem trailer, "a leak developed in one of the ethyl bromine containers and affected the crane operator and another worker," Montes said.
The process was stopped to contain the leak and clean the area. At the same time another fire broke out on the shoulder from a fire still smoldering from the initial fire. Then the tandem trailer began burning, again.
All these incidents delayed the removal of the vehicles and debris to make way for the road patching. The mail trailer and the motor vehicle were removed from the scene by late afternoon. The log-pole trailer and tractor were placed on low boy trailers. The tandem trailer with completely burned tractor was being loaded into containers.
This is what the scene looked like just after daybreak Thursday as captured by a DOT camera.
Here is a link to our initial coverage of the I-95 fiery crash: http://www.nsbnews.net/content/407986-1-dead-fiery-crash-i-95-involving-3-semis-and-car-explosions-wake-port-orange-residen
NSBNews.net is Florida's first fully-online 24/7 Internet newspaper launched April 7, 2008, and based in New Smyrna Beach. It is led by award-winning journalist Henry Frederick and award-winning blogger Peter Mallory with emphasis on breaking news, news of record and investigative reporting here and across the Sunshine State.
