By David Grimes
© Rockbridge Weekly
Wednesday Jan 6, 1999

Reprinted With Permission

The chain reaction accident occurred shortly after 8:00 a.m. According to state police Sgt. R.A. Black, Trooper Charles Seelke and another officer were obtaining information from a minor three-vehicle accident that had traffic stopped just north of the bridge.

A tractor-trailer driven by Douglas Hubert Austin, 49, of Atoka, Tenn., was heading north on I-81 when he lost control and jackknifed as he was crossing the bridge. The tractor-trailer then slammed into Trooper Seelke's police cruiser, thus proceeding to set off a series of chain-reaction accidents that involved eight tractor trailers and seven cars, including the troopers Luckily, Seelke was not injured.

Austin, a driver for Cal-Ark International in Little Rock, Arkansas, appeared to be going; too fast for the conditions according to the state police. Austin was one of the four people killed in the accident.

Also killed at the scene was a student from Washington and Lee University and his l5-year old sister. Jonathan Nabors, a freshman at the university, and his sister Leah, died at the scene. they were seated in the back seat of a 1995 Chevrolet Lumina which was being driven by Eddie Nabors, the father of the deceased. Doris Nabors mother of the children, was also a passenger. They were flown to Roanoke Memorial Hospital by LifeGuard-10 and are both listed in critical condition.

Dean Muklevicz, 24, of Memphis, Tennessee. was also killed in the accident. Muklevicz and his wife, Jennifer, were reported to be heading on a ski trip. she was treated at Stonewall Jackson Hospital and released. Some members of the Lexington First Aid Crew took her to the Roanoke Airport early Monday morning to catch a flight to Memphis.

The Emergency Crews
Volunteers from the Glasgow, Lexington and Buena Vista Rescue Squads and Patient Transport Services, along with members of the Natural Bridge, Lexington and Buena Vista Fire Departments worked for over six hours treating and transporting the injured to Stonewall Jackson Hospital.

There were a total of 10 people that had to be extricated from their vehicles," stated Captain Theresa Moore of the Lexington First Aid Crew. "It took the rescue crews 5-1/2 hours to extricate four people out of one of the cars.

"Everybody did a fantastic job on the scene. We all worked together and everyone should be commended for their efforts," Moore said.

The first rescue squad to arrive on the scene was from Glasgow.

"This was the worst accident that I have ever seen," stated Capt. Damon Woody of the Glasgow First Aid Crew. "I was the first on the scene and it was just one big mess, vehicles and metal all over the place," Woody added.

"We started triage as soon as we got to them and as the other squads and emergency people arrived, we started treating and transporting them.

"I was very pleased as to how well the cooperation between all of the departments on the scene went. We had over 100 emergency workers on the scene," Woody told the Rockbridge Weekly. As rescue workers treated and transported the victims to Stonewall Jackson. Members of the air rescue teams from LifeGuard-10 and Pegasus responded to the scene to fly out the most seriously injured.

Two were flown to Roanoke Memorial and two were air-lifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. The crews from both medical helicopters were right in the middle of the accident helping out as needed between flights.

Over at Stonewall Jackson Hospital, there were 10 doctors on duty in the emergency room. A total of 20 people were treated at SJH. Four were then transferred to UVA by ambulance. A 17-year old male (Tristin Alvis) was admitted to Stonewall Jackson according to Beverly Fertig, Community Relations Director at the Hospital. Fertig told the Rockbridge Weekly on Tuesday that the male patient was in fair condition and was later released. Fertig also praised the work of the entire community and emergency personnel. "The amount of cooperation in the community was incredible," she stated. "Everything worked just like clockwork," Fertig added.

Also receiving high praise was the work of the crews from Lee-Hi Truck Stop. We had to use some of the cranes from Lee-Hi to help lift some of the tractor-trailers off of the cars so we could extricate and treat the victims, Moore stated. Both Woody and Moore gave their highest praise to the efforts of Bobby Berkstresser and the employees at Lee-Hi.

Traffic Problems
The accident shut down both northbound lanes of Interstate 81 for about 12 hours and had traffic backed up for over 20 miles. Traffic was re-routed onto Rt. 11, thus creating bumper to-bumper traffic into and out of Lexington. At times, traffic was at a complete Stand-Still as it inched its way north on Route 11.

VDOT officials also placed detour signs up in Roanoke to try to divert the northbound traffic to take Route 220 into Clifton Forge and then take I-64 back into Lexington to hit I-81. One lane of northbound traffic reopened late Sunday night. VDOT officials say that it will probably be sometime today (Wednesday) before both lanes are reopened.