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Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

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Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

police-truck-accident-I-84

Full Text:

Trucker Killed In Freak Accident On I-84

(with photos)

A Pennsylvania trucker was killed in a disastrous accident in which his

tractor-trailer truck loaded with food careened off Interstate 84 and into a

ravine early on the morning of August 28.

State police said trucker James E. Wilkerson, 55, of 4500 Beauford Farms Road,

Harrisburg, Penn., was driving a 1989 Peterbilt tractor-trailer truck

eastbound in the right lane of two travel lanes on I-84 west of Exit 10 about

4:25 am, when for an unknown reason, the truck veered to the right and exited

the travel portion of the highway. The tractor-trailer hit a flexible metal

guard rail, smashed into two light posts and then fell onto its right side,

slid down an embankment and into a ravine where it continued sliding forward

until the truck's cab hit a concrete headwall, becoming wedged inside a box

culvert that carries a brook under Church Hill Road. Most of the truck's cab

became wedged in the culvert.

While the truck was almost completely hidden from the view of passing

motorists, morning commuters knew something bad had happened because of the

long line of emergency equipment and the gathering crowd of police and fire

personnel at the side of the Interstate.

Rescuers, who found that Mr Wilkerson had suffered massive injuries, called an

assistant state medical examiner, who pronounced him dead at the scene.

An autopsy was performed on Mr Wilkerson's body at the chief state medical

examiner's facility in Farmington to determine the cause of death. A

spokeswoman said Monday Mr Wilkerson died of multiple blunt force injuries.

Attempts to reach the driver quickly were hampered by both the terrain and the

bizarre particulars of the truck's final impact. Rescuers had to make their

way in the dark down into a ravine and then clamber up over the overturned box

trailer to make their way to the truck's cab. The cab, they found, had been

almost completely swallowed by the opening of the culvert beneath the Church

Hill Road overpass at Exit 10. There was no quick way to gain access.

Consequently, firefighters cut a hole in the side of the trailer, hoping they

could get access to the cab by entering the trailer and cutting through the

back of the cab. The trailer's full load of prepared foods made that a slow

and difficult task. Ultimately, the trailer was pulled back from the cab by

cables and winches, and the rescuers could begin cutting their way through the

crushed metal of the cab.

After several hours, better access to the crash scene was cleared through the

underbrush adjacent to Church Hill Road. Mr Wilkerson's corpse was removed

about 9 am, about four and one-half hours after the accident happened.

The accident totally destroyed the tractor-trailer truck and its cargo, state

police said. The vehicle is owned by Penn Delivery Systems, Inc, of

Middletown, Penn.

The accident caused traffic backups on eastbound I-84 throughout the day, and

resulted in spillover traffic tie-ups on nearby local roads.

Hawleyville, Hook and Ladder and Sandy Hook firefighters went to the scene of

the crash, aiding in the extrication of Mr Wilkerson's body. The Newtown

Volunteer Ambulance Corps, state police and local police also went to the

scene.

State Department of Environmental Protection workers were called in to contain

a diesel fuel spill. A food inspector from the state Department of Consumer

Protection checked the extent of damage to the truck's cargo.

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