Fiery crash kills Prentiss man on Pearl River Bridge

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, December 20, 2005

A Prentiss man was killed early Friday afternoon when two motorvehicles collided on the west side of the Pearl River Bridge inLawrence County.

Officials said the accident occurred around 2 p.m. when a brownOldsmobile, owned by Tommy Durr, veered into oncoming traffic andhit a Buffalo Services commercial gas tanker in a head-oncollision.

Durr, 40, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Jaws of Lifewere used to extricate Durr from the vehicle.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

The driver of the tanker, who was not identified by officials,was transferred to University Medical Center in Jackson fornon-life-threatening injuries.

The eighteen wheeler caught on fire, leaving the bridge closedto traffic until 9 p.m. while firefighters and emergency personnelextinguished the blaze and removed the wreckage.

“This was the longest time we’ve ever had the bridge closed,”said Police Officer Charles White, who was first on the scene andevacuated the bridge area.

The fire had engulfed the front cab of the eighteen wheelerbefore the Monticello Fire Department arrived on the scene. Thetanker’s fuel tanks had ruptured on impact and helped spread theflames to the back of the rig.

According to Kevin Matthews of Buffalo Services in Brookhaven,the tanker was full and would have ignited and caused severe damageto the bridge had the fire department responded less quickly, FireCaptain Jared Evans said.