TALLAHASSEE - A Highway Patrol lieutenant did not have any formal training or know the procedures before he reopened a fog- and smoke-shrouded highway where a series of crashes killed 11 people in January, investigators said in a report released Thursday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement report concluded troopers made errors but found no criminal violations.
Early in the morning of Jan. 29, wildfire smoke mixed with fog blanketed Interstate 75 near Gainesville where it cut through Paynes Prairie State Park, a low area that lacks billboards or other lighting.
Highway Patrol Sergeant Bruce Simmons was concerned about reopening, but Lieutenant John Gourley gave the order because he was worried keeping the highway closed also would be dangerous.
At least a dozen cars, pickups, a van, six semitrailer trucks, and a motor home collided in six fatal crashes. Eighteen people were hospitalized.
The report faulted the Highway Patrol for failing to create and implement effective guidelines for such situations and said troopers failed to adequately share critical information among themselves just before the crashes occurred.
It noted that other governmental agencies including the Florida Forest Service supported Gourley’s decision to reopen the highway.