Diesel fuel lead may be to blame for chain-reaction crash on I-75 Tuesday

Emergency workers say a diesel fuel leak may be at least partially to blame for a multiple vehicle crash on I-75 near the 18-mile marker Tuesday afternoon that sent at least two people to the hospital, left two semis crashed in the median and resulted in southbound traffic being blocked for hours.

"When I arrived on scene we found quite a bit of diesel fuel," said Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses.

"I had assumed it came from one of the crashed trucks but it didn’t. It actually goes further than our wreck is. There is a good possibility that diesel fuel is what caused this."

He said the diesel fuel on the roadway is likely from a leaking semi, and that it makes for slick roadways.

"It is causing a lot of problems for everybody. Just thank God it has quit raining for a little while," Moses noted.

The series of crashes started shortly before 1 p.m. when an SUV wrecked and flipped over in the fast bound lane about one-quarter of a mile south of the 18-mile marker, Moses said.

Emergency workers had to extricate the female driver, who was the lone occupant in the vehicle.

Whitley County EMS then quickly transported her to a local hospital.

A second crash then happened a short distance away.

Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Cody Harrell is investigating both of those crashes.

Then four semis wrecked at the 18-mile marker.

Moses said one tractor-trailer driver saw traffic stopped ahead and just managed to get stopped.

"He saw everyone stopping. He started to slow down. His trailer actually locked up. He hit the rumble strips to correct it," Moses noted.

Four semi drivers behind him weren’t so lucky.

Two of the semis went over a steep embankment into the median, but managed to stay upright.

Kentucky State Police, Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officer Steve Douglas the wreck involving the trucks was a chain reaction that occurred when the last truck was unable to stop in time.

Douglas said that truck, filled with empty pallets, was driven by 53-year-old Dennis Theiss of Hendersonville, NC.

Theiss’ truck rear ended the truck loaded with air freight driven by 63-year-old Clay Elem of Kettering, Ohio.

The collision sent Elem’s truck slamming into the bobtail truck (no trailer) driven by 60-year-old William Suttles of Birchwood, Tenn.

Suttles’ truck then struck the flatbed truck loaded with steel coils that 44-year-old Spencer Smith of Cottonwood, Ala. was driving.

Douglas said the trucks driven by Theiss and Elem went off the roadway and over and embankment in the median.

Emergency workers from the Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Inc. of Laurel County used the Jaws of Life to pop open a door on Theiss’ truck so he could get out of the vehicle.

Theiss walked to the ambulance under his own power with the assistance of emergency workers, but a short time later was taken to Baptist Health Corbin for additional treatment.

Douglas described Theiss’ injuries and non life threatening.

Moses noted that it is lucky the crash didn’t happen about three years earlier.

The spot where the semis crashed in the median used to have trees there, which could have produced tragic results, Moses said.

"It is a very steep embankment maybe 50 to 60 feet. They were very lucky even to stay upright," he added.
Kentucky State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officer Joey Ray Caldwell is investigating the crashes involving the semis.

Other agencies assisting at the scene included Bolton’s Wrecker Service and the Kentucky Department of Highways, which brought sand to put on the roadway to absorb the spilled diesel fuel.