Semi overturns on Highway 34

Local law enforcement officials experienced a close call Wednesday while responding to an accident on Highway 34.

At approximately 3:52 p.m., a 2009 Freightliner semitrailer driven by Robert Lee Barr, 46, of Browns, Ill., was eastbound near mile marker 205 west of Fairfield when it dropped onto the shoulder, causing the semitrailer to enter the south ditch and overturn, according to a crash report from the Iowa State Patrol.

Barr was trapped but responders were able to free him from the vehicle without the use Jaws of Life extraction equipment, Jefferson County Sheriff Jerry Droz said. Barr was transported to Jefferson County Hospital by ambulance.

While responding to the accident, multiple emergency vehicles from the state patrol, Iowa Department of Transportation, Jefferson County Sheriff?s Office, Fairfield Fire Department and Batavia Fire Department were parked along the eastbound shoulder and right lane when a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Cindy Sue Cheely, 50, of Burlington made an unsafe approach to the scene.

According to the crash report, Cheely attempted to go around Batavia?s fire truck on the shoulder and lost control, striking the right front of the fire truck and colliding with the rear of an unmarked 2007 Dodge Charger from the sheriff?s office.

Droz said the driver also narrowly missed deputy Kent Lox who was walking down the side of the road.

For the complete article and photos, see the Thursday, March 12, 2009, Fairfield Ledger.