OAK GROVE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – An accident on I-24 at the 91-mile marker in Oak Grove left over a dozen people with injuries on July 5. The Christian County Sheriff’s Office has released more information about the wreck that impacted traffic for an extended period of time.
“An incident this size truly does test any departments response, but it’s something we plan for and are prepared to handle,” Hopkinsville Fire/EMS spokesperson Payton Rogers told Christian County Now. The 36-year-old male driver of the semi-truck told deputies he was driving westbound when traffic suddenly stopped in front of him. Due to the rain and wet roads, he said he was unable to stop in time, which caused a “chain collision” between eight vehicles.
The crash took place at a section of the interstate where ongoing construction is taking place, which resulted in multiple severe accidents in the past few months due to temporary lane configurations with concrete barriers.
Neighboring agencies respond to assist
Multiple agencies responded to the wreck including Fort Campbell EMS, Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department, Todd County EMS, Montgomery County EMS, Kentucky State Police, Christan County Emergency Management, Christian County Sheriff’s Office, and Christian County Rescue.
“HFD sent three ambulances, a fire apparatus, and a district command officer immediately to the scene and while those were responding, we were already requesting support from neighboring agencies,” Rogers added. “This especially worked out well, considering the number of patients continued to climb before we made an on scene.”
Rogers said they triaged 19 patients, 14 of which were transported for additional treatment and three of which were children. All of the individuals had non-life-threatening injuries. The majority of people involved in the accident were traveling through Oak Grove from out of state.
| RELATED STORY: Crashes, delays continue in Christian County nearly 4 months into interstate project