MoDOT honors responders who assisted in I-57 crashes

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A week after a series of chain-reaction crashes on Interstate 57 killed five and injured 15 people while closing traffic for more than 20 hours, emergency responders who assisted were honored Thursday by Missouri Department of Transportation.

Emergency responders gathered Thursday afternoon for the ceremony in the garage of MoDOT's Southeast District Office complex in Sikeston.

"This type of incident requires multi-agency coordination and consistent communication," said Mark Croarkin, MoDOT Southeast District engineer. "From the first call we received to the reopening of Interstate 57, we appreciated so many agencies pulling together to assist during this unfortunate event."

The collisions began about 8 a.m. March 17 as thick fog enveloped the Charleston area. The first pileup started in the southbound lanes, and then migrated to the northbound lanes, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol. Forty-seven vehicles -- including several semitrailers -- were in the wreckage.

"Last Thursday we had a horrible accident," Croarkin said. "... We spent 20-plus hours working on clearing the roads and getting them back open together, and there was an awful lot of teamwork that I appreciate, and I want to say thanks to each and every one of you."

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, left; Capt. Philip Gregory, commanding officer for the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop E in Poplar Bluff, middle; and Robert Hearnes, director of Charleston Department of Public Safety, talk prior to the ceremony Thursday at Missouri Department of Transportation' Southeast District Office complex in Sikeston.Leonna Heuring ~ Standard Democrat

But before the recognition, Croarkin asked for a moment of silence to remember the five people who lost their lives that day. One of them, Croarkin said, was retired 37-year MoDOT employee, William Ryan, 75, of Pevely, Missouri. He had worked for MoDOT in St. Louis.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe then praised those who responded to the scene.

"When you have an unfortunate incident like we had last week, you see Missouri's best come out, and I know we had a little help from some of our friends in some neighboring states," Kehoe said. "The coordination we saw between state departments, local municipalities, county officials, sheriff's departments -- that's what makes Missouri proud."

He continued: "The loss of life is incredibly sad. ... But when we get a corridor like that of 47 vehicles over a half mile stretch and up to 20-hours of closure in some directions, getting that unwound, crime scenes, accident scenes -- all the things that happen -- it takes coordination of a lot of people, and I'm here to say thank you."

Kehoe specifically thanked Capt. Philip Gregory, commanding officer for the Patrol's Troop E in Poplar Bluff, and his team for their work on the incident.

"I really want to thank the highway patrol and what they were able to do to help with coordination with not only MoDOT but law enforcement agencies, state partners across the river. The folks at Troop E did a great job," Kehoe said.

The lieutenant governor also praised State Emergency Management Agency and Department of Natural Resources for their assistance.

"Whenever you have this type of incident and that type of issues across the roadway, there's an appropriate way to make sure those things are handled," Kehoe said. "Without the Department of Natural Resources, we couldn't get that done, so, DNR, thank you so much for the work you did on this incident."

Kehoe also expressed gratitude to the other cooperating agencies in attendance Thursday: Scott County Sheriff, New Madrid County Sheriff, Mississippi County Emergency Management, Mississippi County Health Department, Charleston Department of Public Safety, Mississippi County Sheriff, Scott County Ambulance, Sikeston DPS, Cape Girardeau County Fire Department and MoDOT.

In addition to Croarkin and Kehoe, speakers for the ceremony included Missouri Highways Commissioner Dustin Boatwright and MoDOT Transportation director Patrick McKenna.

Boatwright praised MoDOT employees for their assistance in the incident.

"As a highway commissioner, we had 82 field personnel out at this site to secure, direct traffic, provide an access and response services and nearly a dozen more folks here in the district office that were helping out with the accident," Boatwright said.

McKenna recognized two MoDOT employees -- Kirby Woods, senior construction inspector for MoDOT in Sikeston, and Jason Estes, maintenance supervisor for the MoDOT facility in Charleston -- for their efforts at the scene.

"Kirby found himself in the middle of the multi-vehicle crashes," McKenna said. "He was on his commute to work. Kirby actively sought to rescue and retrieve those involved in the accident while initiating and maintaining communications in person and on phone to respond and coordinate the efforts to many first responding agencies including MoDOT.

McKenna continued: "He was the first responder on the scene. He also provided detailed, firsthand awareness to 911 of the full magnitude of the scene. That valuable information got all the right resources headed to the scene within seconds."

Woods's quick actions saved lives, McKenna said. He then recognized Estes.

"Jason mobilized his crews for immediate response to the incident that was in proximity to his facility," McKenna said. "He continued to direct MoDOT crews within the accident scene to ensure coordination of efforts and collaboration with other agencies under these extreme events."

McKenna said all in attendance Thursday were involved in the quick action, relying on their training and working together, and he's proud of everyone.

Croarkin concluded the ceremony by thanking everyone in attendance.

He said: "It's amazing at what we can accomplish when we work together."