What a mess
by SUSAN YOUNGER
staff reporter
 Winter's fury combined with interstate speeds to spark a chain reaction accident that most drivers amazingly walked away from Sunday.
Synchronized community efforts led to the rescue of motorists involved in a 50-vehicle pile-up on I-69 around 2:20 p.m.
A sudden whiteout blinded drivers in both the eastbound and westbound lanes between M-24 and Lake Nepessing Road. With visibility reduced to zero, many vehicles were unable to avoid hitting each other, causing a chain reaction of crashes.
Lapeer County Central Dispatch's phones began to ring almost immediately with frightened accident victims calling for help.
"People said a truck went off the road, causing serious multiple accidents," Susan Miracle-Atwell said.
"It just happened out of the blue," Dispatcher Cindy Peters said. "It was really unexpected."
Four veteran dispatchers were swamped by the number of calls that didn't seem to stop. Besides responding to those, the 911 operators were also tasked with routing proper assistance while assessing the situation.
The County Mobile Command Unit was on the scene to warm rescuers as county controller John Biscoe partially activated Lapeer's emergency operation plan.
"We partially implemented it," Biscoe said. "Dispatch, the Red Cross, the road commission, police, fire, everyone did a great job."
Michigan State Police troopers James Shaw, Jason Mercier and Karen Ryan were the first law enforcement on the scene. Sgt. Robin Walker asked for assistance from the Flint post.
"There were already a lot of citizens involved and helping out," Ryan said. "Everyone was running around and helping the emergency crews. Lapeer County deputies jumped right in."
Weather conditions prompted officials to call off a medical helicopter while dispatchers sought additional ambulance assistance from Genesee County.
Though police are still piecing together information, Ryan was told an elderly couple's vehicle spun and was stuck by a semi. The couple's vehicle was pinned to a guard rail.
"A very nice lady gave us a brand new sleeping bag to put over them while we waited for fire and rescue," Ryan said. "Many uninjured people were covering others and alerting emergency workers to those that were really hurt. People weren't angry, they seemed genuinely concerned for one another."
There were 12 injuries. Nine of those hurt were transported by ambulance to Hurley Medical Center. Their conditions and names were not available at press time.
Elba Township Fire Chief Mike Burke was the fire incident commander. Firefighters freed trapped victims and transported uninjured stranded motorists to Lapeer City Fire and Rescue's training center.
"GLTA transported people back here to stay warm," Lapeer Fire Captain Thomas Wittke said. "I've been here for 22 years, and this is the first time I've seen anything like this. One guy had his cell phone on and you could hear the sounds. I feel for the people, and I was glad we could help."
Police closed I-69 and rerouted traffic. Most of the accidents were on westbound I-69, but rescuers used eastbound lanes to bring help.
The usually competitive towing companies worked together to clear the roadway.
"I've never seen anything like it," E&L Towing manager Bob LaVoie said. "It was a good effort by all of us. We all worked together."
The interstate was open again just after 8 p.m.
|
