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A tire blows, sending the dump truck across I-275 in St. Petersburg. The impact causes a fiery explosion and backs up rush-hour traffic for miles.
By MIKE BRASSFIELD
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 8, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- It sounded like a bomb.
A dump truck barreling north on Interstate 275 blew a tire and shot across a grassy median, smashing nearly head-on into a van going the other way. The impact split the van wide open and made the dump truck burst into flames.
"It was the worst sound I ever heard," said Mike Filson, working nearby on a road construction crew. "As soon as they hit, there was an explosion."
Two men died in the crash about 5 p.m. Tuesday on the interstate near 26th Avenue S. Debris was littered over a wide area of the highway, and rush-hour traffic backed up for miles.
"When the truck hit the van, it was like splitting a can wide open," said Cpl. Gary Schluter of the Florida Highway Patrol.
Identities of the dead and injured were not available Tuesday, pending notification of relatives. The crash killed one man in the truck and one man in the van.
Two men survived. One crawled out of the burning truck and walked around the crash scene with glass in his hair. He appeared to be stunned and upset, but he did not require medical treatment. The other survivor, severely injured when thrown from the van, was taken by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center.
The red dump truck was northbound on I-275 in the left lane when its left front tire blew out, according to the FHP. The truck veered across the median toward a southbound white van. The van's driver tried to swerve to avoid the truck, but it was too late.
Both vehicles were knocked onto the road's shoulder, where they tumbled down an embankment.
The collision was massive; the van was crushed beyond recognition. The dump truck ended up on its side. Flames spread from the truck to the grass alongside the road.
Workers from a nearby construction crew on I-275 ran to the scene with fire extinguishers.
"We put the grass out. That was all we could do," said Filson, 36. "I saw that dump truck fly across the road and hit the van. It blew up, and parts were everywhere."
Emergency crews ordered construction workers to back away from the burning truck, worried it would explode.
"There was quite a bit of fire," said Gerard Chalmers, district chief with the St. Petersburg Fire Department.
-- Staff writer Leanora Minai contributed to this report.