Drivers hurt in fiery collision of S.C.-owned truck, 18-wheeler

The Trucker News Services

1/24/2008

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Two truck drivers were injured in a fiery collision on Interstate 85 between an 18-wheeler and a South Carolina Department of Transportation truck.

A big rig driven by 36-year-old Andre Finch of Charlotte, N.C., rammed the rear of a SCDoT truck driven by state employee Mark Gyner, 28, South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Scot Edgeworth said.

Both men were treated at the Greenville Hospital System. Neither is believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries. The wreck happened about 1 a.m. Tuesday when the tractor-trailer collided with the DOT’s salt-loaded dump truck, Edgeworth reported.

The slow-moving DOT dump truck, which was prepping the interstate in anticipation of frozen precipitation, overturned near the 32-mile marker of I-85.

Edgeworth said Finch was cited for driving too fast for conditions. The trooper said the tractor-trailer crashed into the median wall after the collision, which knocked the dump truck off the highway. The tractor-trailer burst into flames.

Keith Sonefelt, spokesman for the Anderson County Fire Department, said it was the second tractor-trailer accident on I-85 in less than 18 hours.

In the other accident, Sonefelt said a hazardous-materials crew was called to handle a spill of diesel fuel about 9:30 a.m. Monday. He said a tractor-trailer, which was loaded with rubber, overturned as its driver attempted to enter I-85 at Exit 19. No one was injured in that mishap.