MVA I-81
Northbound at the Fancy Hill Exit (MM180)
June 23, 2002
by Darryl Woodson
A truck driver and his 11-year-old son were killed in a fiery crash on
Interstate 81 at Fancy Hill Sunday morning.
John Charles Patterson, 31, of Winston-Salem, N.C., and his son, John Charles Patterson Jr. died at the scene of the single-vehicle accident, which occurred at 7:40 a.m.
Trooper Brad Saubert reported that Patterson was driving northbound when his truck struck the southern end of the bridge over U.S. 11, riding the guardrail to the other end of the bridge. The cab ran off the right side of the road just past the bridge, flipping around and catching fire, while the trailer detached from the cab and overturned on the interstate.
Responding firefighters extinguished the fire, the smoke from which could be seen for miles. The victims were found inside the wreckage.
Saubert said Patterson had just picked up a load of lettuce and onions from California at Wytheville earlier that morning and was on his way to Philadelphia.
Traffic was rerouted around the accident scene until one lane was reopened about two hours after the accident, with one lane remaining closed until late in the afternoon. The normally heavy Sunday traffic on the interstate was backed up at one point to Buchanan.
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