Before midnight Friday, February 23rd and into the morning of Saturday, February 24th, the Devine Volunteer Fire Department responded to four wrecks in a row on IH 35 around the weigh station in a matter of eight hours. These wrecks occurred in the same general area during the night/early morning hours under wet weather conditions.
The first wreck happened around 11:30 pm, as a single vehicle rolled over on IH 35 northbound between the weigh station median.
Second accident – as this call was about to be cleared an 18-wheeler hit the barrier wall in the northbound lane and ended up in the median with his trailer blocking one lane just a quarter mile before their location. The driver of the 18-wheeler was okay but at this point the traffic now had to be diverted through the weigh station.
The third accident – as one fire truck cleared the scene and arrived back at the station, yet another wreck took place about 2:12 am when another 18-wheeler jackknifed in the median of IH 35 South at MM 121. As a result of this, the rig’s fuel tank began leaking but the driver was okay.
Fourth accident – then, about 3:55 am, while traffic was still being directed due to this accident, another 18-wheeler jackknifed 100 yards from them. The driver of this rig was also okay, but it was 7:16 am before the fire department could clear the scene.
Fire Chief Michael Walker, Assistant Chief Christian Jones, 1st Lieutenant Byron Hruzek, Robert cline and Justine Hruzek worked these accidents.
