Fiery tractor-trailer wreck shuts down Bluegrass Parkway, sends 2 people to the hospital
Two people were hospitalized with cuts and burns after a tractor-trailer crashed and caught fire on the bridge over the Kentucky River on Bluegrass Parkway Tuesday morning.
Anderson County Fire Chief Patrick Krogman said the fire department was dispatched to the single-vehicle collision at about 6:30 a.m. When firefighters arrived, Krogman said the semi was on the guardrail, with the trailer hanging over the bridge engulfed in flames.
The two people who had been inside the vehicle were able to get out on their own and were taken to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, Krogman said.
The crash site was on the eastbound side of the parkway, near the county line between Anderson and Woodford counties.
For about an hour, all lanes of Bluegrass Parkway were shut down, Krogman said. He said all eastbound lanes were closed for hours after that.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said traffic was diverted onto U.S. 127 in Anderson County during the closure.
By late Tuesday afternoon, the transportation cabinet said the eastbound bridge had reopened.
The tractor-trailer was carrying empty Mountain Dew cans, and part of the load spilled, Krogman said. He said representatives from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet responded because some diesel fuel and oil spilled into the river.
He said the Kentucky Highway Department conducted a bridge inspection after the wreck, which took out several hundred feet of guard rail.
This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 4:54 PM.
