Police working to identify body found after fiery crash
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By Candice Nelson
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: July 13, 2008
A wall of fire and billowing smoke rose under the light of the Roanoke Star. On Saturday night, officials said a fuel tanker truck went over an embankment on US 220 near the Franklin Road exit. Roanoke City Police say it was a single-vehicle crash. It happened after 10 p.m. on Saturday.
“It had 85-hundred gallons. My understanding, the initial explosion was pretty big,” said Deputy Chief Ralph Tartaglia with Roanoke Fire-EMS.
And so were the flames, so large crews couldn’t recover the driver’s body until after the fire was out. It’s a tragic situation that Tammie Brewster, who lives near the crash, is familiar with.
“All of a sudden I hear the bump. And of course, there again, after you live here long enough, you know what that is,” said Brewster.
That “bump” she’s talking about is the sound of a truck hitting the guardrail, in a place neighbors there say is full of accidents.
“When I came out my front door, the heat just, shew, hit me right in the face. I realized after I saw the guardrail what had happened,” Brewster said.
Roanoke police say the body was found outside the truck, but they’re still investigating the identity.
“The truck is devastated; the cab is almost unrecognizable. The tank itself is burnt and busted in half,” Tartaglia said.
It was all after a night of worry for those nearby those towering flames.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( ) on July 14, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Thank you Brenda for your kind comment. I truly was not taking pictures to sell or anything like that. I am a photographer and have a blog that when something like this happens I usually put it in my blog as current news and I also add it to the newspaper site for news. I don’t get paid for it. I have written about different restaurants and a wind sock retailer and an Appaloosa Farm in Bonsack and quite a few other places and don’t get paid for it. I never in a million years thought of getting paid for something like that. Someone else’s pain and heartache does not give me my bread and butter and would never want it too. Taking pictures of children and families and seeing their joy is what would be my bread and butter. Something like this is just for photographic experience. I am sorry if my pictures offended anyone.
To Woody...send me an email and I will fix you up with a free 8X10 of your family.
My prayers will continue to be with the family of this driver.
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Posted by ( Brenda ) on July 14, 2008 at 8:42 am
Woody, had you any common sense or decency yourself, you’d not have had an inclination to attack the photographer as your only reaction to the story. In case you didn’t know, it is clear that when a person has nothing of substance to say, they respond with personal attack.
Besides, how do you know the insurance companies, police/fire/investigator, etc. would not be interested in those pictures? We cannot be sure!
Photovirginia, you didn’t offend anyone that wasn’t looking to be offended. Keep up your hobby and enjoy it!
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Posted by ( twinsblueroanoke ) on July 14, 2008 at 8:38 am
This is a horrible thing that has happen. I heard that the trailor swerved to miss a car? How many other people heard that? It’s really sad what had to happen, but if he swerved to miss a car, think about what those people were thinking in that car to see what had happen. Those people are probalty thankful that they did not get hurt cause they could have. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the driver.
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Posted by ( ) on July 13, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Sorry that you feel that way but in no way did I block the street or impede the rescue workers. I was on another street totally and looking down on the scene. I also was not aware at the time that there was a death involved. If you read the comment thoroughly instead of just skimming it you would have known that I was truly praying the driver had made it and did not know until I got up on Sunday morning that there was a fatality. Why would I sell my pictures? Do you see anything in those pics that would make them profitable? My mind never went in that direction. It seems your decent mind did though. Thanks for your comment, they are all appreciated. I will pray for you along with the family of the victim and pray that you lose your anger. By the way, I am not a paid journalist, I just love my camera.
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Posted by ( Woody ) on July 13, 2008 at 9:42 pm
To bad common sense and common decency didn’t take over....but rest assured your photojournalistic nature was intact and you were able to get 60+ pictures of someone’s fiery death. Did you block the street and impede the rescue workers too? What are you going to do with the pictures? Sell them? Better say some more prayers.
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Posted by ( ) on July 13, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I got there right after it happened and as I always take my camera with me, I was able to move around and get around 63 shots of the fire. It was the scariest thing I have experienced due to the talk of everyone around me.
The heat was unbelievable from the fire and people and the police were saying that another explosion was expected to happen because of the tanker trucks that were near the fire and that particular place was supposedly where they fueled the NS trains. It was scary but my photojournalistic nature would not leave me and I went from area to area getting shot after shot. I have a gallery of them at http:/photovirginia.com Scroll down to the the link for the tanker truck gallery and click on it...give it time to load and then click on the arrow to view the slideshow of the pics.
I have since heard that the driver was found and he did not survive. I was so hoping that he was able to escape before the truck exploded but he wasn’t. I do want the family to know that my prayers are with you and there will be many prayers for you tonight.
Debbie M.
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