One Killed in Fiery Truck Accident in Texas

April 22nd, 2011 |

CLEBURNE, TX – One person was killed Friday, February 18, in a fiery truck accident on a highway in Johnson County, Texas. The deadly head-on collision was near the city of Cleburne on U.S. Highway 67. The truck accident occurred in the southern edge of the Fort Worth metro region, in the northeast section of the state, about 52 miles southwest of Plano, about 47 miles west of Mesquite and about 48 miles southwest of Richardson, Texas.

On Friday morning an unidentified man was driving a semi truck through northeast Texas. At the time of the truck accident the driver was pulling a pneumatic trailer section. The contents of the trailer and the driver’s destination have not been released.

Just before 6:00 a.m. Friday morning the truck driver had reached Johnson County and was traveling north on U.S. Highway 67, a two lane road known locally as the Walter P. Holliday Drive. The tractor trailer was driving through the west side of the suburb of Cleburne, to the west of the local municipal airport. At the same time a 61 year old man was driving a Cadillac southbound on the highway, headed toward the town of Glen Rose. The deadly truck accident occurred as the two vehicles met about a half mile south of the juncture with Farm to Market Road #4.

According to reports, there was a Ford pickup truck just ahead of the Cadillac on southbound US 67. The Cadillac driver pulled into the northbound lane to pass the pickup. The Cadillac made it around the pickup but for unknown reasons did not pull back into the southbound lane in time, ending up directly in the path of the semi truck. The driver of the tractor trailer did not have the time or space to avoid a truck accident and slammed head-on into the Cadillac.

After the collision the semi trailer went off the highway and crashed in a field next to the highway. The force of the impact damaged the fuel tank on the semi trailer and the truck exploded into flames. Debris from the truck accident flew through the air, hitting the Ford pickup and scattering into both traffic lanes of the highway.

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Rescue teams from the Cleburne Fire and Police Departments rushed to the scene of the multi vehicle collision. Paramedics worked to give aid to the victims of the crash. Sadly, the driver of the Cadillac suffered fatal injuries in the truck accident and died at the scene. The semi driver was treated and stabilized and then transported by ground ambulance to a local hospital. Police did not release the details of the man’s injuries but they were described as non life threatening.

The driver of the Ford pickup was not injured in the truck accident.

Firefighters fought the blaze on the burning tractor trailer. When the flames were extinguished highway crews began to clean up the truck accident scene. The burnt wreckage of the semi truck had to be towed from the crash site, using a heavy duty wrecker. The debris from the crash blocked the two lane highway, forcing police to close a section of US 67 for the rest of the day.

All lanes of U.S. Highway 67/Walter P. Holliday Drive were reopened at about 6:00 p.m. Friday evening, approximately 12 hours after the truck accident.

It is believed both state and local police are handling the investigation of the three vehicle crash. It appears that the truck accident was caused by the Cadillac pulling into the tractor trailer’s path. It is not known why the Cadillac did not pull back into the southbound lane after passing the Ford pickup. The driver of the Cadillac may have misjudged how close the approaching semi truck was, or suffered some kind of impairment and lost control of his car.

No charges have been brought at this time and the truck accident remains under investigation.

Posted in Texas Truck Accidents |