Note: 2nd Accident in Two Weeks..

Car flips, burns in I-85 accident in Anderson County

By Rick Spruill (Contact)
Saturday, August 22, 2009

ANDERSON COUNTY — A sport utility vehicle pulling a U-Haul on Interstate 85 in Anderson County flipped over and caught fire with the driver pinned inside Saturday afternoon.

South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers and Townville Fire Department firefighters responded to the one-car crash. The accident happened around 3 p.m. in a construction zone on the northbound side of the interstate roughly a mile south of exit 14.

Several personal fire extinguishers were seen in the wreckage, and emergency dispatchers reported that several such items were used to try to put out the fire in the sport utility vehicle.

That vehicle came to rest upside-down in a lane of the interstate, and the U-Haul trailer sat nearby, slightly damaged and detached from its hitch.

The driver, whose name was not immediately available Saturday from officials, was freed from the vehicle and taken from the scene by ambulance.

The gray Chevrolet Equinox, which bore Louisiana license plates, was crammed with moving boxes and personal items that were scattered on the interstate pavement.

With both lanes closed, northbound interstate traffic remained backed up for about a mile as of 3:30 p.m. while emergency crews and investigators worked at the accident scene.