The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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March 16, 2009

Fog may have caused fatality

Staff and wire reports



A Beaver man died Monday in a collision of two tractor-trailers west of Watonga that caused a highway intersection to be closed for nearly 10 hours.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation, but there was heavy fog in the area at the time of the 8:10 a.m. accident, according to Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

The accident happened at the junction of U.S. 270 and Oklahoma 33, 8.5 miles west of Watonga in Blaine County.

James Alger, 44, was pronounced dead at the scene of head and trunk injuries, accoring to an OHP report. He was pinned in his truck for more than seven hours.

The intersection was closed for nine hours and 50 minutes while the accident site was cleared, according to OHP, reopening at 6:10 p.m. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile when the area was closed at 8:20 a.m.

OHP Lt. George Brown said one of the rigs spilled butane or pressurized propane. Environmental Management Inc., of Guthrie, responded to conduct hazardous material cleanup.

According to an OHP report, Alger was eastbound on U.S. 270 in a 2005 International tractor-trailer when a 2007 Peterbilt tractor-trailer driven by Robert Magness, 71, of Geary, turned from Oklahoma 33 onto westbound U.S. 270.

Alger’s tractor-trailer struck the tank trailer Magness was pulling. Magness was not injured.

Seat belts were in use in both vehicles.

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