2009 — Dec 22, Dust Storm, Auto Collisions, Casa Grande, south of Phoenix, AZ– 3
— 4 Carlson (AP). “Dust Storm South of Phoenix Leaves 4 Dead,” Dec 22, 2009.
— 3 Arizona Daily Star (Beal). “Casa Grande still haunted by ’09 dust-storm pileup.” 9-25-2011.
Narrative Information
Dec 22, 2009, AP: “PHOENIX — A sudden dust storm Tuesday spawned a series of collisions involving as many as 20 vehicles on Interstate 10 south of Phoenix, leaving at least four people dead. Arizona Department of Public Safety officials said other casualties were airlifted to Phoenix hospitals with severe burns and other traumatic injuries.
“A second series of accidents was reported farther south along the main route between Tucson and Phoenix. High winds and blowing dust were also reported west of Phoenix, and the highway patrol was urging drivers headed to Phoenix from California to drive with extreme caution. The midday accidents led authorities to close I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson. It was expected to remain blocked for at least several hours. Both directions of Interstate 40 in northern Arizona were also closed west of Flagstaff because of high winds and snow. Traffic backed up for miles as I-10, a major east-west thoroughfare, was shut down in both directions at milepost 190 near Casa Grande. Dust and thick gray smoke from burning vehicles billowed across the flat sprawl of farms and desert.
“The highway patrol said a commercial vehicle exploded, so a hazardous materials team was dispatched to the scene. Video shot by a television helicopter showed the smoking hulks of several big-rig trucks, a passenger van and unrecognizable debris along about 300 yards of the eastbound lanes about 10 miles north of the junction with Interstate 8. In the westbound lanes, an injured person was loaded on a medical helicopter….
“The storm arrived fast and furious Tuesday morning, said David Bridger, a spokesman for the city of Casa Grande. “This one came on so very, very quickly,” Bridger said. “We knew it was something pretty serious coming. It is absolutely a major, major wind storm down here.” DPS said visibility was poor as the dust storm remained in the area.” (Carlson (AP). Dec 22, 2009.)
Sep 25, 2011, Arizona Daily Star: “This summer, the wind blew huge dust storms and tragic memories through Casa Grande…. On Dec. 22, 2009, three people died in a 22-vehicle crash on Interstate 10 near Casa Grande during a dust storm. Two were local teenagers – Katie Eide, 16, and her brother Mark Zackary Eide, 14…. The third victim was Edgar Ivan Medina-Vargas, 25, who was driving from Phoenix to El Paso in a pickup truck, followed by his father in a semitrailer cab. Medina-Vargas was killed when his pickup was sandwiched between a semi-truck ahead of him and the truck driven by his father, Refugio, Department of Public Safety reports on the crash said.
“Dust storms were not expected at the time of the 11 a.m. crash, said atmospheric scientist William Sprigg, who pairs satellite photos of exposed terrain with weather models to produce dust-storm forecasts. Sprigg ran post-crash models for that stretch of Interstate 10 and was puzzled by the timing. His models said the dust storms would come midafternoon. But by 11 a.m. that day, wind speeds at nearby Casa Grande Airport were 20 mph – not high enough to lift a dust cloud from undisturbed land but high enough to lift dust from 80 acres of recently cleared land.
“That was the initial assessment of Don Gabrielson, director of the Pinal County Air Quality District. His memorandum of proposed action against Joe Auza Sheep Co. says Auza failed to take “reasonable precautions” to stabilize the area. “As a direct result of those failures, modest winds resulted in dense clouds of dust that obscured visibility on I-10. The visibility impairment directly resulted in a serious traffic accident on I-10 in which three people were killed.”….
“Joe Auza, president of the company, ultimately signed a consent agreement under which he was fined $10,000 for clearing land without obtaining a dust permit. He admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, completed in February of this year…..
“The Arizona Department of Transportation has developed a prototype sensing-and-warning system along a notorious stretch of Interstate-10 – east of Willcox to the New Mexico state line. There, dry lake beds combine with farm fields to produce a ready supply of dust, said Mike Harmon, ADOT engineer for the Safford district. ADOT has added four more sensors to two that have long been in place near Bowie and San Simon, said Mike Harmon, ADOT engineer for the Safford district. The agency also added cameras that let engineers see dust storms forming, Harmon said. The monitors will help highway workers and the Department of Public Safety decide when to detour traffic or lower the speed limit, Harmon said. In those cases, dust-warning signs will flash. Electronic message boards and the emergency radio channel will warn motorists of reduced visibility. Strategies that work best can be deployed along other troublesome stretches of Interstate 10, as well as I-8 and I-40.” (Arizona Daily Star (Tom Beal). “Casa Grande still haunted by ’09 dust-storm pileup.” 9-25-2011.)
Sources
Arizona Daily Star (Tom Beal). “Casa Grande still haunted by ’09 dust-storm pileup.” 9-25-2011. Accessed 6-25-2015 at: http://tucson.com/news/science/environment/casa-grande-still-haunted-by-dust-storm-pileup/article_92bf83bf-57a6-5106-810d-eed40411a1c2.html
Carlson, Mark. “Dust Storm South of Phoenix Leaves 4 Dead.” Associated Press, Dec 22, 2009. Accessed at: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2009-12-22-dust-phoenix_N.htm