(Smith County Insider Press) Gordonsville, Tenn. – On Sunday morning, September 18, around 7:30 am Smith County 911 received a call reporting a tractor-trailer truck wreck on I-40 around the 261 West bound mile marker.
When authorities arrived on scene, they found a tractor-trailer truck around 80 ft. down an embankment on the left side of I-40. According to Trooper Brandon Jackson’s report, the truck was traveling West on I-40 when it swerved into the left lane to miss a wrecked vehicle in the right lane. When the truck swerved, it began to hydroplane and proceeded through a guard rail. The truck came to a final rest down the embankment.
The driver of the truck was identified as Ellis Phares of Abingdon, Maryland. There was one passenger in the vehicle identified as James Henderson of Baltimore, Maryland. The truck was owned by Eastern Moving & Storage Company in Baltimore, Maryland. No injuries occurred during the accident.
The Smith County Hazmat Team was called to the scene due to over 100 gallons of diesel fluid that leaked from the truck’s tanks. The accident caused one lane of I-40 to be shut down for nearly five hours while the spill was cleaned and the wreckage removed from the scene.
Four other vehicle accidents occurred Sunday morning on I-40 due to heavy rain and standing water on the roadway.
