Woman killed, teens seriously hurt when car slams into fog-shrouded semi
Staff writer
A 38-year-old woman was killed and two 14-year-old boys seriously injured when their car, northbound on K-15, slammed into a semi amid dense fog at 9:50 p.m. Saturday on US-56 east of Lehigh.
Alicia D. Warwick, whose official address is in Peabody but who co-owns a home in Marion, was dead at the scene.
Passengers Jason Warwick-Ortiz and Gabe Glenn, listed as freshmen at Peabody-Burns High School, were taken on an emergency basis to Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, by Marion and Hillsboro ambulances.
At least one of the boys was stabilized until 11:49 p.m. at NMC Health, formerly Newton Medical Center, before being taken to Wesley.
According to monitored transmissions, the boys were trapped in the wreckage and screaming for help when rescuers arrived.
Paramedics on the scene requested a helicopter ambulance, but fog was too dense for helicopters to fly.
According to Kansas Highway Patrol, Warwick failed to stop her 2005 Toyota Camry at the intersection. It slammed into a 2021 Freightliner semi pulling a 2023 Wabash trailer.
Semi driver Alfred S. Johnson, 34, Hockley, Texas, reported the accident to dispatchers. He was examined by Tampa ambulance attendants but found to have no apparent injuries.
All involved were wearing seat belts, according to a KHP report.
The accident tied up traffic at the intersection of US-56, K-15, and Bison Rd. for nearly five hours.
Firefighters from Hillsboro, Lehigh, and Goessel helped light the scene, extricate victims, and divert traffic around the collision. Multiple wreckers from Auto House Towing and Recovery cleared the intersection.
Emergency responders, who reported zero visibility, initially were uncertain of the location. The semi driver apparently was unaware there are two intersections of US-56 and K-15.
Firefighters and ambulance attendants first checked the eastern intersection, at Holly Rd., before going on to the west intersection, at Bison Rd.
After one of the injured boys insisted to ambulance attendants that a fourth person might have been in the wrecked car, firefighters performed an exhaustive search.
They probed the wreckage and walked the area on foot with a thermal camera and piloted an infrared drone in a fruitless search for an additional victim who might have been trapped in the wreckage or thrown from it.
The first units arrived at 10:06 p.m., 16 minutes after the accident occurred. They reported that the top of the Camry had been sheared off.
Ambulance attendants immediately verified the semi driver’s report that the Camry’s driver had been killed.
By 10:21 p.m., they had extricated the boys but still were working to recover the driver’s body.
All traffic was stopped until at least 11:18 p.m. and then allowed only on a limited basis. Firefighters diverted northbound K-15 traffic as far away as 150th Rd.
Tampa ambulance was asked to stand by after checking the semi driver in case firefighters attempting to direct traffic in zero visibility might be injured.
A coroner arrived at 11:46 p.m., and the driver’s remains were taken to Jost Funeral Home, Hillsboro.
The highway patrol assigned a Critical Highway Accident Report Team, which arrived at 11:56 p.m.
Marion and Hillsboro ambulances returned to their stations but remained out of service for decontamination and resupply, with Tampa ambulance backing them up, until after 3 a.m. Firefighters also remained at the accident until after 3 a.m.
Hillsboro ambulance did not return to its station until 5:07 a.m.