I-4 Seventy Vehicle Pileup

January 9, 2008
A thick fog combined with smoke from a 500-acre brush fire sparked a seventy vehicle pile-up along Florida’s I-4 near the city of Davenport on January 9th, 2008. Twenty tractor-trailers were involved in the accident and one tanker truck spilled its load of oil which then caught fire, exacerbating the situation. The heavy fog also delayed emergency response crews from accessing the accident and initiating rescue operations. A four mile stretch of the major thoroughfare that connects Orlando to Tampa was closed for more than 24 hours while crews worked to clear the wreckage. In total, five people were killed and at least thirty-eight others were injured in the disaster.

NC4 received reports of the accident twenty-four minutes before it was covered on major network news. Our analysts continued to monitor the incident, providing our customers with situational updates as they became available, until the roadway was reopened.

Selected Updates

NC4 Incident Monitoring Center issued the following alerts:

• Roadway closed due to accidents, fog, and smoke from nearby brush fire.
  01/09/08 05:28 PST
  
  
• At least three fatalities and dozens of injuries reported in 50 car pileup.
  01/09/08 06:17 PST
  

• Rescue crews recover all victims from crash site; accident believed to have been caused by fog and smoke. 01/09/08 08:04 PST
  

• A four mile stretch of I-4 remains closed while crews work to clear accident scene. 01/09/08 13:56 PST
  
  
• Officials believe around 70 vehicles were involved in I-4 pileup. 01/09/08 20:42 PST
  

• All lanes have been reopened following Wednesday’s severe accident.
  01/10/08 16:18 PST
  

 

Additional Resources
NC4 provides ongoing updates to members as the incident unfolds through the NC4 Incident Monitoring Center (NIMC). NIMC analysts follow the incident using official government sources as well as national and local media sources -- linking to local news article, “At least fifty vehicles involved in I-4 pileup”, including images from the scene, eyewitness reports, and aerial footage of the accident.

One-page printable summary with graphics