Fiery I-89 crash claims two lives
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Workers pump out the contents of a milk tanker that crashed on Interstate 89 in Montpelier on Monday. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
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By THATCHER MOATS STAFF WRITER - Published: January 26, 2010
MONTPELIER – A 62-year-old Waterbury woman and a truck driver from Fairfield were killed early Monday morning when two milk trucks and a car smashed into each other on Interstate 89 in Montpelier, causing the cabs of both trucks to catch fire.
The three-vehicle pileup, which was reported at 3:26 a.m., prompted police to close the southbound lanes of the highway for more than 12 hours between Berlin and Middlesex, causing long traffic jams. The northbound lanes also were closed for about three hours as firefighters doused the flames and police began sorting through the wreckage.
Linda Hall, who was a passenger in her husband's forest-green Buick Regal, was one of two people killed in the crash, police said. Christopher Trivento, 43, was the other. He was driving one of the tractor-trailer trucks and was pronounced dead at the scene, said police.
Hall's husband, 66-year-old John "Sonny" Hall, sustained only minor injuries, as did the second truck driver, David Dike, of Fletcher.
It was rainy, icy and dark as the three vehicles drove south on the highway early Monday, police said.
The initial investigation shows that Dike, 59, was rounding a right-hand curve north of Exit 8 when he lost control of his truck, police said. His truck jackknifed, police said, and came to rest blocking both southbound lanes.
Hall's car came next, police said, but as he tried to stop, Trivento's truck came from behind and hit both vehicles.
The cabs of the trucks ignited. Dike escaped from his truck safely, but Trivento did not, police said.
The crash site was located just before the bridge that spans Route 2 and the Winooski River. Hall's banged-up car was left pinned against a guardrail facing the wrong direction. One trailer was pushed up against the same guardrail and the other lay across the roadway.
Aided by large amounts of diesel fuel, the fiberglass cabs and the plastic interiors of the trucks were almost entirely incinerated, officials said, leaving an engine block from one of the trucks visible from the roadside.
Lt. Paul White, the commander of the Middlesex Barracks of the Vermont State Police, said it was a terrible crash.
"Just looking at the wreckage, it's one of most complex scenes — and some of worst wreckage — I've ever seen," said White.
The icy roads appear to have contributed to the crash, police said, noting that a Montpelier ambulance that responded to the scene slid off the road.
"That road was so slippery," said Montpelier Deputy Fire Chief Bob Gowans.
Police have not yet assigned blame for the crash or taken legal action against anyone, said White. But all three drivers may have been going too fast for the inclement weather, though it's unclear at this point how fast they were driving, White said.
"The only indicators we have at this point are slippery conditions and driving too fast for slippery conditions," said White.
The Vermont State Police accident reconstruction team responded to the crash, and police were at the site for most of the day.
The investigation will continue with the help of the Department of Motor Vehicles and will include inspections of the vehicles and interviews with the two trucking companies involved, White said.
The two truck drivers worked for separate trucking companies in Enosburg, but the drivers knew each other, said police. Dike and Trivento both stopped at the Wagon Wheel Truck Plaza in St. Albans where they chatted briefly before heading south Monday morning, said White.
One of the milk trucks was bound for Massachusetts and the other for southern New Hampshire, said White.
At the time of the crash, John Hall was driving his wife to Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin because she had a medical problem, said police. After the accident, Linda Hall was transported to the hospital in Berlin, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
"It's a very tragic crash," said White.
Police reopened the southbound lanes of the highway at about 5:30 p.m. after pumping the milk from the two trucks into another truck and hauling the wreckage away.