Tractor-Trailer Slams Fire Apparatus on Tennessee Interstate

CLINTON – A speeding tractor-trailer slammed into three emergency vehicles at a wreck scene early Saturday, narrowly missing about a dozen emergency response personnel, officials said.

“It was a very close call,” said Jeff Devlin, a battalion chief with Rural/Metro Fire Department.

Devlin said a Rural/Metro fire engine valued at $350,000 was heavily damaged when the 18-wheeler rear-ended it, sending both vehicles into nearby woods.

Devlin said all of the emergency response personnel were within 15 feet of the collision site. The tractor-trailer also sideswiped a Knox County Rescue Squad response truck and a Heiskell Volunteer Fire Department fire engine, officials said.

Devlin said the response vehicles were in the inside lane of the interstate, and all of the vehicles had their emergency lights flashing.

Crews were responding to a one-car wreck shortly after 1 a.m. off the northbound lane of Interstate 75 between Emory and Raccoon Valley roads, according to reports.

A 5-year-old child in the car was critically injured and taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center. Driver Justin Kinard, 36, of Decatur, Ga., was charged with drunken driving and vehicular assault.

Details about the tractor- trailer wreck, which occurred about an hour later as emergency response crews were wrapping up, weren’t available late Monday from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The second wreck closed both northbound lanes of I-75 for several hours.