By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
WINDBLOW — Volunteer firefighters from Candor and Derby were dispatched Tuesday night to Highway 73 East near Windblow to help with traffic control for a two-vehicle crash.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
The departments’ assistance was originally requested at about 10 p.m. for help with reduced visibility in the area. Smoke from a controlled burn being managed by a private contractor blanketed the roadway, a main thoroughfare for travelers from the northern end of Richmond County.
Prior to the accident, officials with the North Carolina Forest Service had phoned the contractor and said caution signs needed to be put on the road from each direction due to the low visibility. Forest Service personnel arrived on scene to assist with deploying the signs. The accident occurred while the signs were being put into place.
According to those on scene, the two vehicles involved in the crash included a Perdue chicken truck and a second, privately owned vehicle. A source said the driver of the chicken truck had stopped on the roadway “because he couldn’t see” and the female driver of the second vehicle didn’t see him and crashed into the back of the trailer.
Perdue trucks that haul chickens typically run with flashing amber lights.
Authorities kept Highway 73 closed from Windblow Road to Pooles Mill Road. The accident occurred about 100 meters west of Pooles Mill Road.
More information about the car crash was not immediately available, though it’s not believed that anyone sustained serious injury. The driver of the second vehicle was cited for failing to adjust speed in the conditions.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
