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Black ice causes havoc

Posted January 17, 2016 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

A seemingly peaceful Thursday morning quickly turned dangerous for motorists last week.

At least eight accidents, caused by black ice and involving 11 vehicles and 14 people, occurred between 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Jan. 14, sending first responders scrambling to multiple areas of the county.

Elsewhere, the Illinois State Police District 13 office reported troopers handled 17 accidents that morning, two of which involved personal injury.

"Anytime you have those types of road conditions and you put everybody out there going to work and school, that's a recipe for a lot of accidents," said Randolph County Sheriff Shannon Wolff, who thanked the agencies involved for their quick response to the situation.

Seven of the accidents were handled by the Randolph County Sheriff's Office, with the other by the Chester Police Department.

Two other reported accidents turned out to be a person who ran off the road and struck a mailbox and one who popped a tire.

"This time of year, any shaded areas people come across on these back roads are going to have black ice," said Randolph County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Jarrod Peters. "It's just that time of year."

In what was called "perfect conditions" for black ice, the Ellis Grove, Steeleville and Chester fire departments worked separate accident scenes at the same time at one point.

According to Drive-Safely.net, black ice forms - most commonly - when the outside air temperature is warmer than the road surface.

Moisture on the ground then freezes rapidly when it comes in contact with the untreated, colder surface. Quick drops in temperatures can also lead to the formation of black ice.

Black ice gets its name due to the ice taking the color of whatever surface it lands on. Its transparent nature makes it very difficult, especially at night, for motorists to spot.

"The biggest problem (with black ice) is nobody's aware of it," said Chester Fire Chief Marty Bert. "Everything seemed fine at 6:15 a.m. and by quarter to 7, it started forming. The conditions have to be perfect. The road has to have a little bit of frost on it that it melts on it and turns slick."

Bert's department had a busy morning. The CFD was paged out at 7:07 a.m. to assist Ellis Grove with a one-vehicle rollover on Shawneetown Trail that had been reported 22 minutes earlier.

According to the sheriff's office, 69-year-old Charles Kelly (of Sparta) was traveling eastbound on Shawneetown Trail west of Glober Road at 6:45 a.m. when he lost control of his 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan on the ice and the vehicle slid, spun and overturned.

During this time, the Grand Caravan was sideswiped by a 2013 GMC Sierra 1500 driven by 31-year-old Matthew Thies (of Campbell Hill).

"(Kelly) got out before we got there," said Ellis Grove Fire Chief Mike Jackson. "He had a pretty bad gash on his head."

"It looked like (the crash) knocked all the windows out of the car and smashed the driver's side down pretty good."

Fifty-four minutes later, the CFD received a page for another rollover with entrapment on County Farm Round west of Willy Gully.

In that accident, a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix - driven by 17-year-old Alyse Bollman (of Chester) - had encountered a patch of ice and lost control, rolling over onto its top into a ditch beside the road.

"We cut the windshield out with a sawzall," Bert said. "She was hanging upside down and we had to cut the seatbelt while she was being supported by a backboard."

Bollman, who did not sustain any major injuries in the accident, was transported to Chester Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

"We tried to get her out the door, but we couldn't get the door open wide enough, so we took her out the windshield," Bert said.

At 11:16 a.m., the CFD was paged to the report of a residential fire alarm sounding at 201 Ridge Rd., giving the department its third service call in four hours.

"Three is pretty uncommon for us in that short of time," Bert said. "Three calls in four hours, it felt like we were full time."

Bert told the newspaper an overheated pot on the stove caused the alarm, which was activated by the home's security system. Firefighters were on scene for roughly 10 minutes for smoke ventilation.

Other black ice-related accidents include the following:

State Route 154/W. Broadway St.

The first of two separate accidents in front of the WHCO radio station was reported at 6:31 a.m.

Fifty-two-year-old Stephen McConachie, of Sparta, was driving a 2004 Ford Mustang westbound on Route 154 when he encountered ice on the roadway.

McConachie then lost control of the vehicle, slid off the left side of roadway and struck a ditch. No injuries were reported.

State Route 154/W. Broadway St.

The second accident at this location was reported 17 minutes after the first.

Fifty-six-year-old Lee Kellum, of Sparta, was traveling westbound on Route 154 when he lost control of his 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix, slid off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch.

No injuries were reported.

State Route 155/West Mill St.

Seventeen-year-old Marah Donjon, of Prairie du Rocher, was eastbound on Route 155 a quarter of a mile west of West Mill Street when the 1995 Jeep Wrangler she was driving encountered black ice, slid off the left side of the roadway and overturned onto its top.

No injures were reported. The accident was reported at 7:23 a.m.

Wine Hill Road/Rieckenberg Lane

The most serious of last week's accidents also involved the most people. A 2006 Pontiac G6, driven by 47-year-old Shauna Smith of Percy, was westbound on Wine Hill Road a tenth of a mile west of Rieckenberg Lane.

The accident report stated Smith lost control of her vehicle on black ice after negotiating a curve in the roadway.

The G6 crossed into the eastbound lane and struck a 2010 Mazda 3 head-on, with the two vehicles coming to rest in the ditch on either side of the road.

The driver of the Mazda, 34-year-old April Fedderke, and three juvenile passengers - a 14-year-old female, 8-year-old male and 11-year-old male - all suffered serious injuries in the crash.

Fedderke was airlifted from the scene and transported to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. The three passengers were all transported to Sparta Community Hospital via MedStar Ambulance.

"We had the wreck at Wine Hill," said Steeleville Fire Chief Carlos Barbour. "We extricated the driver of one vehicle. We set up the landing zone to fly her out and assisted MedStar with multiple injuries."

The 8-year-old and 11-year-old passengers, who were in the backseat, were later flown to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.

All four occupants from the Mazda are from Steeleville.

Smith was transported to Chester Memorial Hospital with unspecified injuries. The accident was reported at 7:40 a.m.

County Farm Road/Willy Gully

This accident occurred a minute after the accident involving Alyse Bollman, at 7:53 a.m..

Forty-two-year-old Angela Vasquez was driving a 2012 Nissan SUV on County Farm Road and slowed her vehicle due to the Bollman crash on the side of the road.

A 2014 Dodge Durango, driven by 50-year-old Norma Marcinkowska, was traveling behind Vasquez and could not stop in time on the ice, striking the SUV.

No injuries were reported.

Route 3/Fairway Lane

The last of the reported accidents was reported at 8:05 a.m. on Route 3, 400 feet north of Fairway Lane.

According to the Chester Police Department, 17-year-old Christian Mitchell (of Ellis Grove) was driving a 2002 Chevrolet S-10 south on Route 3 when he encountered black ice.

The S-10 crossed the opposite lane of traffic and came to rest in a ditch on the east side of the road. No injuries were reported.

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