Terrible news in Davenort area

[orchidvilla]

Several accidents, including a 50-car pileup with 3 fatalities, are blocking at least 14 miles of Interstate 4 in Polk County this morning, officials said.

Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office have closed I-4 between State Road 570 and U.S. Highway 27 near Haines City. Parts of S.R. 570 also have been shut down.

Multiple agencies are responding to Polk County, including Orange County Fire Rescue.



Reports from officials in the area show that a vehicle on the roadway is on fire and others may have overturned.

"At the moment, all we can say is that a tanker has overturned on the roadway, but we are not sure if it's part of the 50-car pile up," Polk County spokeswoman Cindy Rodriguez said. "It's been very difficult to see out there."

Larry Coggins at the Florida Highway Patrol said he was still being walked to the different crash locations just before 9 a.m. and could not confirm how many accidents there are or how many cars have been involved.

Polk County school officials said none of the district's buses is involved in the traffic accidents on I-4, but there have been some delays.

"The smoke has delayed many school buses and staff members, but we do not anticipate closing down any of our schools," assistant superintendent Fred Murphy said. "Our buses will resume their regular routes once we determine that it's safe for them to traverse the area."

Murphy added that students who cannot make it to school because of the smoke or the accidents on I-4 can stay at home. The missed day will be considered an excused absence.

The National Weather Service in Melbourne this morning issued a special weather report warning commuters that visibility in the Polk County area would be down to zero because of smoke from brush fires and fog. Meteorologists with the weather service said visibility will improve as the air begins to mix later this morning.

The lack of visibility on the roadway could be behind the crashes in the areas of Davenport, Haines City, Auburndale and Polk City; however, Coggins added that it is too early to say if the crashes are smoke related.

Sentinel staff writers Amy Edwards and April Hunt contributed to this report

[LiesaAnna]

absolutely awful, have seen the pics on the news website, looks like utter carnage!!

[ravtino]

Poor people, so sad for the families

[Frosty]

its been reported tonight that the road (I4) may remain closed for several days due to damage sustained during the accident.

Anyone flying into Tampa should be aware so that they can plan another route to the Disney area.

Roger, if you read this, this topic did not show up on the active topics list, even when i set the interval to 2 days, and i have been on more recent than that. All the others seem to show up, is there any reason you can suggest?

[roger]

It seems fine from here, so not sure what to suggest.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Frosty
Roger, if you read this, this topic did not show up on the active topics list, even when i set the interval to 2 days, and i have been on more recent than that. All the others seem to show up, is there any reason you can suggest?
[/quote]