FHP says swift fog hampered response

The fog moved in quickly, the agency says. Meanwhile, commerce finds new routes.

By MIKE BRASSFIELD, ABBIE VANSICKLE, and HELEN HUNTLEY, Times Staff Writers
Published January 11, 2008

A wrecked truck from the pileup rests near the Fantasy of Flight museum on Highway 559. Wednesday's fiery pileup burned truckloads of Priority Mail, merchandise and fuel.
	[Ken Helle | Times]

Candee Higgins thinks the Florida Highway Patrol should have kept a closer watch on Interstate 4.

Her best friend's stepfather, Darren Scott Snyder, died there in Wednesday's 70-vehicle pileup.

"I believe the road should have been shut down," said Higgins, 20, of Winter Haven.

So why didn't officials close I-4 before blinding fog caused a disaster? They knew about smoke from a nearby brush fire. They had even posted signs on the road warning drivers about it.

But only the usual force of two state troopers patrolled the highway in Polk County in the hours before the crash.

The FHP says the thick fog swept over the road too quickly for officers to react in time. It says that troopers were on I-4 specifically watching for smoke but that conditions were clear through the night - until things suddenly got worse.

"They could smell the smoke, but visibility was fine. Visibility wasn't an issue," said an FHP spokesman, Trooper Larry Coggins. "Then the fog set in the way it did, and within moments there was complete zero visibility."

The National Weather Service says smoke from the fire caused the fog to thicken in a small, localized part of Polk County.

Coggins said witnesses talked about the sudden way the fog appeared: "One driver said he was driving along and it was crystal clear and all of a sudden it was totally white."

And FHP investigators said heavy damage to the vehicles shows they were driving at highway speeds and not slowing down to compensate for fog.

When the first 911 call about the crashes came in, the nearest trooper was 11 minutes away, Coggins said.

* * *

Although a highway like I-4 carries vast amounts of commerce and tens of thousands of commuters a day, highway officials insist they won't hesitate to shut down a major traffic artery like this if it's unsafe.

Still, part of their job is to keep traffic flowing if possible. They block off roads because of fires and smoke but try to reopen them as quickly as is safe.

For example, when huge wildfires were rampaging across Florida in 1998, officials were routinely closing interstates, including 150 miles of I-95. Sometimes they would reopen a road to let backed-up traffic through, only to have to close it again when the wind switched direction.

Nevertheless, Coggins said the procedure for closing a major highway like I-4 is simple: "Officers on the scene see that public safety is at jeopardy and they close the road, period."

* * *

Truckloads of priority mail, merchandise and fuel went up in flames when I-4 shut down, but businesses that rely on the highway quickly found alternatives for connecting with their customers.

"We're working around it, like all companies," Rooms to Go president Steve Buckley said Thursday. The furniture company has a fleet of trucks that take about 150 trips a day on I-4.

"Not only are the alternate routes out of the way, but traffic is heavy," he said. "Everybody is working extra hours."

Other companies, including Publix Super Markets Inc., Federal Express, UPS and Sysco Corp., were making their deliveries by alternate routes. "We have contingency plans on top of contingency plans, especially in Florida where we deal with hurricanes and tornadoes," said UPS spokesman Dan McMackin.

The road closure had little effect on Busch Gardens in Tampa and Sea World in Orlando, spokesman Gerard Hoeppner said. "This time of year is mainly locals and snowbirds," he said.

Aside from the human toll, one of the more serious losses in the crash was the destruction of about 490 pieces of priority mail. The affected mail was bound for Central Florida or Miami and originated Tuesday from ZIP codes starting with 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 341, 342 and 346. Those who purchased tracking services for their priority mail can check the delivery status on the U.S. Postal Service Web site www.usps.com.

Mike Brassfield can be reached at brassfield@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3435.

THE LATEST 

The forecast: A change in the weather should lower the chance of fog this morning and through the weekend. There could still be some patchy fog inland, but it shouldn't be as thick. Officials also are watching for smoke from a smoldering swamp fire.

Road repairs: The state scrambled to finish a $300,000 emergency repair job on a 650-foot stretch of asphalt melted by burning semis. They also hauled away 300 tons of dirt in the median that was contaminated by oil spilled from a tanker.

Crash investigation: The Florida Highway Patrol has no timetable for its investigation into the crashes. It has released the name of only one of the dead.

The fire: A 400-acre swamp fire whose smoke has been blamed for contributing to the crashes was still burning near the highway late Thursday, though authorities said it was under control.

Mike Brassfield and Catherine E. Shoichet, Times staff writers

[Last modified January 11, 2008, 01:33:29]