WHITESBORO, TEXAS — Three people were critically injured Tuesday afternoon when an RV collided with an 18-wheeler on Highway 82 just east of Whitesboro, igniting a fire in front of the Lucky Stop truck stop that shut down the eastbound highway for more than four hours and triggered a second-alarm fire response and a mass casualty plan.
The crash happened on October 21. KXII reported that the RV sideswiped the tractor-trailer, and a car then ran into the back of it. Surveillance video from the nearby Big Rigs and Tire Shop captured the RV slamming into the semi and bursting into flames.
Five people were involved. Three were critically injured. Whitesboro Fire Chief Jeff Patterson said one was flown by CareFlite to Dallas and two were taken by ground ambulance to Texoma Medical Center in Denison. The other two, a young girl in the RV and the truck driver, had minor injuries or none. KXII reported that the girl escaped unharmed.
“We enacted a second-alarm fire response, which gets us more fire trucks to the scene because of the fire, and then we activated our mass casualty plan as well, which brings in additional ambulances,” Patterson said. Nearly a dozen agencies responded, including units from Whitesboro, Collinsville, Sherwood Shores, Southmayd, Sherman, Cooke County EMS, and Pilot Point.
“These are the reasons that we train and we plan for these kind of incidents, where neighbors and neighboring departments come together to support each other, because nobody has enough resources for an incident that big, but together we do,” Patterson said.
Witnesses said they could see smoke and smell burning rubber from miles away. Several people nearby, including the crew at Big Rigs and Tire Shop, ran toward the fire to help.
All eastbound lanes toward Sherman were closed for more than four hours, and the road reopened at 5:15 p.m. Crews were still clearing burnt debris hours later. The cause has not been determined and the investigation is ongoing.
The tire shop shared its video to warn others about the stretch. “This stretch of road is very dangerous due to semi-trucks frequently entering the gas station,” the business said. “We’re praying for everyone involved.”
Interviews courtesy of KXII.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
