By Jeff Branscome
The Free Lance-Star
LADYSMITH, Va. — Ladysmith Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Stephen Melson was asleep at home when his pager sounded after midnight on Saturday.
There had been a bad accident on Interstate 95 in Caroline County--not far from the site of a commercial bus crash that killed four women and injured another 53 passengers in May 2011. Melson said he was out the door in about a minute.
This time, about a dozen people were injured, and others were dead, the chief was told as he rushed to the wreck near Ladysmith. A total of three firetrucks and six ambulances responded to the crash, and Melson was the chief in charge.
A Spanish-speaking state trooper translated for the van’s passengers--none of whom appeared to speak English.
“The biggest thing ... was trying to deal with that language barrier so that we could identify who these people were,” Melson said.
Saturday’s accident occurred on northbound I-95 at around 12:30 a.m., according to State Police Sgt. Steve Vick. A 1998 Dodge van traveling from North Carolina to New Jersey with 15 passengers ran off the left side of the road and veered back across two lanes before striking a 2016 Toyota Camry in the right lane.
The Toyota spun out while the van continued off the road to the right, overcorrected back to the left and overturned five or six times, Vick said. Six passengers in the van--four men, one woman and one juvenile--were ejected and died at the scene, police said.
The van’s driver, Wenceslao Cruz-Marquez, 50, of Chicago, has been charged with reckless driving and six counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to State Police. The driver of the Toyota had minor injuries and was taken to the hospital by her family, Melson said.
State Police will not identify the victims until all next of kin have been notified, Vick said. He declined to provide any other details because the crash is still under investigation.
Melson said it was the worst accident he could remember since the bus wreck he responded to five years ago. And just like the bus crash, driver fatigue is considered a factor, according to State Police.
Melson noted that Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg have plenty of exits along I-95. He described Caroline as “that little spot kind of in the middle of nowhere” that “lulls people to sleep, no pun intended.”
“You get to see some stuff in this area that you just don’t see everywhere else,” said Melson, who joined Ladysmith Volunteer Fire Co. in 1993.
It’s not uncommon for 15-passenger vans to overturn. They are three times more likely to roll over when carrying more than 10 passengers, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
From 1994 until 2004, there were 1,512 fatalities involving the vans, the NTSB reports. The majority of the deaths occurred after single-vehicle rollover accidents.
After Saturday’s crash, ambulances were able to transport the two most critically injured patients before medical helicopters arrived, Melson said. Those patients had what he described as “high-degree trauma injuries,” such as broken bones.
The other patients suffered cuts and bruises, but their injuries did not appear to be as severe, he said.
Police said the van’s driver and nine other passengers were taken to Mary Washington Hospital and Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center with serious injuries.
Hospital officials did not immediately respond to requests Monday for information on the status of the patients.
The crash required assistance from numerous agencies. A fire engine from Ladysmith Volunteer Fire Co.--which is about 2.5 miles from the crash site--reached the scene first, Melson said. The seven volunteers at the station happened to be awake at the time, cleaning equipment.
Caroline’s Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management supplied three ambulances. Fort A.P. Hill, Spotsylvania County, Frog Level Volunteer Fire Department and Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department also sent emergency vehicles, said Melson, who credited the smooth response to the working relationship between agencies.
Ladysmith Volunteer Fire Co. stayed on the scene until about 6 a.m. to provide lighting for police who were reconstructing the accident, Melson said.
Shortly after they left, he said, the volunteers had to extricate a person from a vehicle after another collision. Nobody suffered life-threatening injuries in that accident, he said.
“It was a busy night,” Melson said.
Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402
jbranscome@freelancestar.com
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(c)2016 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)