3 wrecks occur within 6 hours

Three drivers were transported by air ambulance after a three-vehicle crash Sept. 26, on Highway 111 southbound, in White County.

According to information from Charlie Tollison, assistant chief for Sparta-White County Rescue Squad and public information officer, at approximately 9:05 p.m., the rescue squad was dispatched to the scene of a three-vehicle wreck on Highway 111, near Hampton’s Crossroads.

Upon arrival, the rescue squad was presented with the task of one patient being trapped in their vehicle. According to Tollison, after stabilization of the car, the driver’s door was removed, and the driver was removed from the vehicle to a backboard.

Two drivers were transported by air ambulance from the scene, with the third one being scheduled to fly out of Saint Thomas Highlands Hospital, in Sparta, after ground transportation.

According to Tollison, extrication time was short, but Rescue One stayed on the scene until approximately 1 a.m. to assist Tennessee Highway Patrol with lighting up the scene for investigation purposes.

Tollison said, “Thank you to all the agencies that responded to the scene and to the Putnam County ambulance that responded for mutual aid.”

More details will be provided as soon as THP has completed their report.

Earlier in the day, a White County school bus was involved in what was initially called “a minor incident.”

According to a report from Tennessee Highway Patrol, at approximately 3:24 p.m., a 2009 Thomas 131 school bus driven by Cynthia M. Haney, age 72, was traveling east on Breeding Drive when the vehicle attempted to make a right turn onto Moore Street. The report stated that Haney was wearing a seat belt.

While the vehicle was making the turn onto Moore Street, the school bus struck the concrete curb at the corner of the two streets.

The school bus received minor damage to the rear right side tire.

The school bus was driven from the scene. Three minor females, ages 16, 15, and 12, were transported to Saint Thomas Highlands Hospital, in Sparta.

According to Candice Allen, communications director for White County Schools, the three students who were injured were cleared from the hospital’s emergency room.

Allen said school district personnel reached out to the families on the morning of Sept. 27 to check on the students.

Allen also said the bus was pulled from service and will undergo inspection by Tennessee Highway Patrol. The driver was also pulled from service until standard investigation has been completed.

Then, a third incident that occurred in the evening hours, on Sept. 26, involved two vehicles that collided in downtown Sparta. No details about this incident were available at press time.