News 4 Jack starts right down with a
breaking news alert breaking news right
now is on the dames Point Bridge all
northbound lanes are shut down after a
crash left a semi-truck dangling over
the bridge we've got a live look from
our camera this afternoon traffic at a
standstill going north southbound
traffic is barely moving the dangling
semi has been removed from the side of
the bridge there was a briefing going on
right now the Florida Highway Patrol is
about to speak to the media and the
public about this major crash listen to
the traffic investigation a reference to
the traffic crash that happened earlier
today preliminary investigation shows
about 12:45 this afternoon a four car
crash occurred here on the bridge from
what we can tell at this point was a tow
truck was becoming disabled was slowing
to the right shoulder of the northbound
lanes of I 295 here on the Dames point
where it was then struck by the back or
struck in the back by a Ford f-150
pickup truck from impact that truck
started to rotate cause the impact with
another small red vehicle and then
ultimately had caused a tractor-trailer
to lose control but which was trying to
take evasive action lost control struck
some of those vehicles as well and then
of course ended up on the concrete
barrier wall behind us as you see the
trailer of that tractor-trailer actually
exited the bridge into the water it's
currently still there it is a box
container type trailer from what I'm
told is transporting water so there is
no hazmat or any type of material of
that nature in regards to the river
however with that being said it's
currently lodged in the mud and from
what I'm told
due to the safety and the integrity of
the bridge and traffic they are
scheduling a barge to come pick that up
they do anticipate it being in the water
for several days before that March could
be floated from its location to safely
remove the trailer
fortunately with this crash we had no
fatalities no serious injuries we did
have one transported that was the driver
of that Ford pickup truck to a local
hospital but thankful that we're not
serious injuries or any fatal injuries
in this crash we do anticipate being on
scene for about another hour and then as
soon as we conclude the cleanup as you
see going on behind us we'll open up the
roadway as soon as possible it's amazing
that the people one injury and all of
this but what about what was going on at
the time of that any idea what caused
this to happen there from again
preliminary investigation shows that a
vehicle was slowing down to the right
shoulder or pulling to the right side of
the bridge because it was becoming
disabled and that was that that tow
truck that I mentioned earlier from that
point you know that chain reaction crash
and the first pickup truck struck the
rear of that truck it veered off lost
control started rotating started
striking the other vehicles doesn't
appear that it was an improper lane
violation or anything like that
not at this time you know again
investigation is still unfolding we you
know we still have some evidence we need
to to analyze and so forth but at this
time that's our preliminary preliminary
finding I was told it was a male driver
of the pickup truck
but again everybody else was not hurt
and was transported from the say no do t
is out here now but how safe is the
bridge now I mean chunks of this are
missing we have we've had do T
inspectors on site FDOT got here very
quickly as of right now they inspected
the bridge they they mended the bridge
temporarily and what I mean by that is
the concrete barrier wall the the
exterior of that bridge I'm told
structurally everything is sound that's
safe for vehicular travel at this point
so we expected
the scene that is correct we expected to
open in about an hour or less what can
you see there's having the overall
takeaway from this knowing I mean we've
only got one injury it seems you know
miraculous has words been put out there
just on this fact that you got four
involved one walking away with an injury
yeah you know looking looking at the the
crushed damage of the collision damage
with these vehicles involved very very
much appreciative that it was only you
know one injured and for that matter you
know not serious injuries or even a
fatality we count our blessings where we
may very thankful of that but with that
being said not saying it happened in
this case but just a general overview
for the motoring public to please you
know pay attention to your driving you
know we want you to get to your point at
Clio from point A to point B but we want
you to do so safely get to get to your
families for the holidays but travel as
safe as possible be alert and arrive
alive can you ever it anymore on the
injury no survivor legs
coming up here some of the trucks were
still on the highway wide were they
still on and the cars have left well we
had you know of course once we made the
road closure to start to handle the
scene we did have a traffic backup we
were started to immediately divert
traffic onto Merrill Road but the the
traffic to that had created in that time
frame we had to basically back off or
get view turn and have them go back to
that exit in the wrong fashion some of
the tractor trailers that were caught in
that queue are unable to make that turn
that u-turn here on the bridge so they
are just sitting stationary for us to
open up the roadway for them to safely
continue on Dylan Bryan with FHP
all right as we prepare for a Jim
Pickett's report there let's recap this
is a four car crash a disabled tow truck
was struck by an F Ford f-150 which
impacted another vehicle that red Kia
that you saw there that had a lot of
damage to it and then a tractor-trailer
driver lost control and as a result the
trailer ended up crashing into the
median there on the side of the Danes
Point Bridge and the trailer ended up in
the water miraculously though no only
one person was injured barges on the way
to pick up the trailer there and the
bridge the dames Point Bridge is respect
is expected to reopen in just about an
hour
you saw a number of 18-wheeler sitting
there the reason they're still there is
because they can't make a u-turn there's
not enough room but the other people who
were in cars were allowed to turn around
and they are now in the process of riru
ting traffic onto Merrill Road now as
you see there do t inspectors are
looking at the bridge in what you heard
there from Dylan Bryan is that the
bridge is okay it is you know they're
gonna do some some minor repairs there
on the side there that barrier wall to
make sure that other cars gonna stay up
on the bridge but it is safe for travel
which is so important right now with so
many people who are preparing for the
travel season and those familiar with
the Jacksonville area know that the
dames Point Bridge is the only way to
get over the st. Johns River in that
part of the town other than taking the
ferry where of course we're gonna
continue following the story this
afternoon and have more coming up at 5
o'clock