The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to Gainesville Thursday to investigate the January Interstate 75 crash that killed seven.
The eight-member team is investigating the cause of the crash and issuing safety recommendations, said Keith Holloway, a board spokesperson.
The investigation was delayed because of a month-long government shutdown, Holloway said. During the shutdown, 21 crashes were not investigated and 367 employees were furloughed, only 26 were deemed essential personnel.
On Jan. 3, an I-75 crash killed five children — Jeremiah Warren, 14; Joel Cloud, 14; Cierra “Cece” Bordelan, 9; Cara Descant, 13; and Brieana Descant, 10 — and two semi truck drivers, Steve Holland, 59, and Douglas Bolkema, 49. Eight people were injured.
Holland was driving northbound on I-75 near Gainesville and hit Robyn Rattray, who was among the injured. Both vehicles went through the guardrail, into the southbound lane and hit the passenger van the children were in and Bolkema’s semi truck. The van overturned, ejecting some passengers.
Both semi trucks caught fire after fifty gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto the highway.
The passengers in the van were on their way to Walt Disney World in Orlando from Louisiana.
Investigators will look at the vehicles, photographs and documentation taken when the board wasn’t on the scene, Holloway said.
“We weren’t able to arrive on scene when the accident occurred. So in our investigations, we try to gather as much perishable type of information and data and evidence that we can,” Holloway said.
The board is working with Florida Highway Patrol, who started the investigation, and the Florida Department of Transportation, Holloway said.
“We’re going to share as much info that we have at this point and that we know factually so that they have the best idea of what transpired,” said Lt. Patrick Riordan, FHP spokesperson.
FHP is looking into vehicle equipment, weather factors and the drivers involved, he said. Troopers are also using witness statements, interviews with those involved and results from the office of the medical examiners.
“We got months in front of us,” he said. “There’s a lot of moving parts to our investigation and they take time.”
It’s unclear when the board’s investigation will end or how long the investigators will be in Gainesville, Holloway said. Investigations are about 12 to 18 months and, in normal circumstances, investigators can be on scene for a week.
“They don’t have a physical scene,” Holloway said. “Things are a little different.”
