Smoke from a prescribed burn sparks 7-vehicle pile up involving three CMVs, four passenger cars

Smoke from a prescribed burn created poor visibility that led to a pile up crash along Alligator Alley in Florida early on Friday. 

The crash happened at around 12:11 a.m on Friday, December 12th on Interstate 75 near mile marker 96 in Collier County, Florida. 

According to Tampa Bay 28, the pile up started when a semi truck driven by a 41-year-old man stopped in the lanes of travel because of poor visibility due to smoke from a prescribed burn. A second semi truck driven by a 44-year-old man then crashed into the back of the first rig, and a third semi truck driven by a 61-year-old man soon crashed into the first two tractor trailers. Reports state that all four trucks were tractor trailers, but pictures from the scene show that one of the vehicles may have been a box truck.

The chain reaction crash continued with a GMC pickup truck, a Toyota car, a Chevy pickup with two additional passengers, and an Audi. A total of seven vehicles were involved in the pileup overall. The driver of the Chevy pickup was killed in the crash, and his two passengers were seriously hurt. The Audi driver sustained minor injuries in the crash. 

Three additional crashes occurred shortly after the fatal pileup. It is unclear if these were due to the smoke, traffic from the pile up, or both. The first of the subsequent three crashes involved two tractor trailers and a pickup. The second involved four passenger vehicles. The third was a single vehicle crash into a guardrail. 

Both the north and southbound lanes were shut down as troopers responded to the crashes. By 9:35 a.m., all lanes were reopened and normal traffic was flowing. The prescribed burn was performed at Picayune Strand State Forest. No further information has been released.