A chain reaction accident closed U.S. 93 near Panaca for a couple of hours Oct. 9 near mile marker 107, where construction work is underway to realign the highway.
County Sheriff Kerry Lee said the accident happened about 8:15 a.m. Even though the accident was severe, there were no serious injuries to any of the occupants involved.
Panaca Fire and Ambulance and one ambulance from Caliente responded. One of the vehicles did catch fire, but was quickly extinguished. Two NHP troopers from Alamo also helped with the investigation.
Lee said three trucks and two trailers were involved and blocked both lanes of traffic. He said traffic had been stopped on the roadway behind a pilot car due to the construction work, and the driver of a one-ton Ford truck out of California with two young male adult occupants did not stop in time and slammed into the rear of a Dodge pickup from Idaho with one person pulling a trailer, which then smashed into the rear of a Ford 150 pickup driven by a man and woman from South Carolina. The Ford pickup then narrowly missed hitting the rear of a stock trailer.
Lee said, “It looked like everything just exploded and sent debris across the entire highway from side to side.”
Extensive damage happened to all the vehicles, however none of the names, ages, or addresses of the victims were available. The driver of the Dodge pickup was transported to Grover C. Dils Hospital, then LifeFlighted to Las Vegas, but Lee said he heard later the person’s injuries were not serious.
Lee said workers from the road building project came to help as well as the Nevada Department of Forestry Honor Camp. “Two of their crews happened be working nearby and went right to work after we had photographed and marked the accident scene, swept and cleaned the roadway and after about two hours, the southbound lane was open to one way traffic,” he said. “It was great they happened to be there and helped.”
