Correction 11:14 a.m., February 21, 2024: Corrected the story to detail that only a Mississippi Highway Patrol vehicle and one Newton County Sheriff's Department vehicle were involved in the incident with the pickup truck at Exit 100 in Lake. We apologize for the error.
A tractor-trailer hauling hazardous materials on Interstate 20 overturned and caught fire early Wednesday morning at mile marker 102 in Lake, causing delays and more accidents involving emergency vehicles.
According to Newton County Sheriff Joedy Pennington, several emergency vehicles were damaged by vehicles running through blockades while rerouting traffic in the early morning hours Wednesday.
Pennington said that a red pickup clipped a Mississippi Highway Patrol vehicle before striking a Newton County Sheriff's Department vehicle head-on at a blockade set up at Exit 100 in Lake, where they were diverting eastbound traffic to Highway 80. According to Pennington, no one was seriously injured, but he added that the back fender of the sheriff's department car hit his deputy on his holster, knocking him onto the median. There were no serious injuries.
At Exit 109 in Newton, a MHP vehicle was damaged by a tractor-trailer at the scene of diverting westbound traffic to Highway 80. No injuries occurred in this incident, as well.
Currently, eastbound lanes of Interstate 20 are opened back up, while westbound lanes are still closed.
