hey dave diehl.......story for ya...

Here is the last thing I saw while standing near a bridge. They are not the best place to run traffic. This was 2 semi rigs obviously fully involved. The first truck was off the right side of the road parked and sleeping. The second truck driver fell asleep and crashed into the rear of the parked unit. As you can imagine, the entire mess burst into flames when the fuel tanks split apart. One had 23,000 pounds of carpet and the other 32,000 pounds of paper. At 4 a.m. you could see the glow and smoke in the air for 17 miles. After all was said and done, the driver who fell asleep had only second degree burns to the left arm. The driver who was on the side of the road, walked away with no injuries. I really expected to see something less desireable when I arrived. If this would have been farm equipment, it would have been ugly in respect to steel moving and tie downs failing. The "dead weight" in the back kept the momentium moving forward. Needless to say, I don't do anything on a bridge if I can help it. The tall part of the fire is the trailer of the parked truck. The rest of it is a debris field about 1/4 mile long and in flames. The lead truck was melted to the pavement. I have alot more photos, they are quite impressive, but I wouldn't want anyone to experience what these guys did. They were darn lucky.