Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.
For over two hours, law enforcement officers and first responders of Jefferson County were involved in responding to a wreck that took place Sunday afternoon, on June 2.
According to the report issued by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), Kristi Neal, 47, of Millbrook, Ala., was traveling westbound on Interstate 10, near mile marker 218.
Accompanying Neal was Richard Neal, also 47 and of Millbrook, Ala., and an unnamed four-year-old juvenile.
Kristi Neal informed troopers, following the wreck, that while traveling in the outside lane, a semi passed by her Ford F150 truck and camper home trailer, on the inside lane.
Neal further stated that the wind that blew off the semi, as it passed, caused her camper trailer to start swaying and her vehicle ended up moving into the emergency lane.
In an attempt to bring her truck and trailer back into the westbound travel lane, Neal abruptly steered the vehicle back towards the left, causing the truck to cross over the outside lane and sway into the inside lane.
The FHP report states that after veering into the inside lane, the truck began to lose control and rotate in a clockwise direction; meanwhile, the camper trailer, that was being pulled behind the truck, overturned and landed on its left side.
From there, both the truck and the camper trailer came to a final rest, with the trailer laying across both westbound lanes of travel and the truck in the emergency lane.
The wreck took place at 4:19 p.m., and first responders from the Jefferson County Fire Rescue (JCFR) responded and were at the scene of the wreck at 4:29 p.m.
When JCFR arrived on scene, Neal and her two passengers were already out of the vehicle and overlooking the wreck scene. FHP reports that no one was injured, due to the wreck.
After surveying the scene, JCFR noted that the truck was being held slightly elevated off the ground, but that the camper was still connected to the truck by safety chains; due to being connected to the overturned camper, the truck was unable to be moved.
JCFR Squad One stabilized the truck and used hydraulic cutters to cut the safety chains, that connected the two vehicles, and freed the truck from where it was connected to the trailer.
Once the truck was removed from the scene, Squad One remained on scene to assist FHP with directing traffic until a wrecker was able to remove the camper trailer from off the roadway.
JCFR first responders were not able to leave the wreck scene until over two hours later, at 6:36 p.m.
Responding firefighters and EMTs were JCFR Chief Derrick Burrus, Nick Buzbee, Cecil Hall and William Walker. Deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office were also on scene to provide assistance.
Trooper Mike Fillyaw served as the wreck's crash investigator.