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Last updated on Tuesday, March 17, 2015
(SEYMOUR) - A semi-trailer fire and subsequent multi-vehicle crash Monday afternoon on I-65 in Seymour closed the north lanes of the inter-state for about four hours.
Indiana State Police Troopers responded to the crash around 2:20 p.m.
According to police 48-year-old Clifton Bennett Jr. of Sunman was driving a 1985 Western Star tractor/2013 Great Dane Trailer combination north on I-65 near the 44 mile marker when he discovered the trailer brakes were on fire.
Bennett pulled his rig to the shoulder and attempted to put out the fire. The flames became too intense so Bennett separated the tractor from the trailer.
Bennett was hauling 40,000 pounds of peanut butter. The trailer and its contents were destroyed. Bennett was not injured.
A short time after the trailer fire began around, a four-vehicle crash occurred in the north lanes of I-65 about a mile away.
Troopers say 48-year-old Richard Kermode of Indianapolis, was driving a 2005 Nissan Altima north on I-65 when his car rear-ended a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by 19-year-old Mackenzie Pritchett of Brownstown, who was stopped in the traffic back-up and caused a chain-reaction with two other cars.
Pritchett's Eclipse was pushed forward into the back of a stopped 2008 Hyundai Sonata driven by 38-year-old Dawn York of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
York's Sonata was pushed forward into the back of a stopped Mercury Mariner that was operated by 45-year-old June Beatty, of Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Kermode's car caught fire shortly after the collision.
This resulted in two vehicles on fire at the same time within one mile of each other.
Pritchett, York and Beatty were each treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries. Kermode was not injured, but was cited for speed too fast to avoid a collision.
The north lanes of I-65 reopened around 6:30 p.m..
ISP was assisted by Jackson-Washington Township, Redding Township and Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Departments and the Jackson County EMS.
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