Fiery collision of trucks claims 4
Lance Murphey/The Commercial Appeal

Clyde Stewart, Tater Scott and Randy Armstrong (from left) work on removing charred wreckage from a collision involving two tractor-trailer rigs on busy Lamar south of Raines early Wednesday. ''I couldn't tell what nationalities they were, they were burned that bad," a witness said of the fatalities.


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By Pamela Perkins
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October 5, 2006
The wreckage was still smoldering when tow truck driver Clyde W. Stewart pulled up on a horrific tractor trailer collision about 4:45 a.m. Wednesday.
"When I got there, the first thing I saw was a burned-out tractor-trailer -- completely burned. It was still flaring up," Stewart said. "It just appeared that one tractor-trailer just ran square into another tractor-trailer."


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When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw the carnage.
"I didn't see them at first. I focused in on them. It was still dark. There were three bodies that I saw. All three of them were badly burned. I couldn't tell what nationalities they were, they were burned that bad," he said.

Four people died and four were critically injured in the fiery crash on Lamar Avenue near Raines Road.

An International owned by Arkansas-based USA Truck Inc. slammed into the rear of a Freightliner rig at about 3:20 a.m., according to a preliminary Memphis police investigation.

Both trucks were westbound on Lamar, which is also U.S. 78, a major east-west road that's thick with truck traffic.

The wreck occurred where Lamar crosses Concorde Road, in an area of warehouse, distribution and industrial complexes a few miles east of Memphis International Airport.

Witnesses told police that the Freightliner was stopped at a red light. It was hauling C-cell batteries and burst into flames.

Stewart said he saw no skid marks on the street,

Sgt. Vince Higgins, Memphis police spokesman, said there was a good reason why.

"The earth was scorched so badly, if there were skid marks they would be hard to uncover," Higgins said.

All of the victims, whose identities are not yet known, were lying outside the trucks when authorities arrived, Higgins said.

Maj. Johnny Currin of special traffic investigations said he had no explanation for the seemingly unusual number of dead and injured.

Memphis Fire Department paramedics pronounced one man and two women dead at the scene.

Five other victims were transported to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, where another male died.

Four female victims remained in critical condition late Wednesday afternoon, Higgins said.

Higgins said the Freightliner was owned by Maines Paper & Food Service of Conklin, N.Y.

Maines officials could not be reached. The company's Web site identifies it as the nation's second largest independent systems food service distributor. It has a facility near Arlington, off Paul Barret Parkway, according to a listing in the phone book.

Rodney Mills, a spokesman for USA Truck in Van Buren, confirmed that one of its trucks was in the crash. But he declined further comment except to identify the company as a medium-haul over-the-road carrier.

The wreckage was not cleared and that part of Lamar reopened until nearly 2 p.m.

Witnesses told police that a third vehicle was involved, but investigators did not find it in the wreckage, Higgins said.

"That's not to say a third vehicle wasn't there," Higgins said.

"We want any individual who was in that intersection between 3:10 and 3:20 this morning to give our traffic unit a call.

"Anybody who was in that area, we want them to call us."

The Memphis police traffic division is at 274-8106.