Truck collision, fire backs up traffic for 13 miles on I-64

Smouldering remains covered in foam sprayed by fire personnel are all that’s left of two trucks following a collision on Interstate 64.

Va. State Police photo

A collision and fire involving two trucks shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 64 in New Kent County for close to eight hours, resulting in a 13-mile traffic backup. Drivers of both vehicles sustained only minor injuries, but now both face charges.

State Police information officer Sgt. Thomas Molnar said the crash occurred around 1 p.m. on Sept. 26 when the driver of a 2011 Freightliner box truck apparently lost control near the 205 mile marker, just west of the Quinton/Bottoms Bridge interchange. The box truck struck a 2009 Volvo tractor-trailer that had stopped on the right shoulder.

Impact ignited a fire that quickly engulfed both rigs and spread to nearby woods. Units from New Kent Fire/Rescue responded to battle the blaze, but both rigs were destroyed.

Molnar said the Volvo driver, Jesse Robinson, 26, of the 10000 block of Jib Court, Cheltenham, Md., has been charged with improper stopping on the interstate. The box truck driver, Thomas P. Seay Jr., 34, of the 10000 block of River Road, Chesterfield, has been charged with reckless driving.

Robinson was taken to VCU Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries. Emergency staff treated Seay at the scene.

Molnar said the tractor-trailer was bound for York, Pa. from Virginia Beach with a load of tea bags. No information was available about the contents of the box truck.
Both lanes of I-64 west were closed to traffic and reopened around 9 p.m.