Truck carrying bees, tractor trailers crash on I-85, cause major delays Tuesday, June 7th 2016, 3:49 pm EDTTuesday, June 7th 2016, 8:58 pm EDT
By WBTV Web Staff
By Alex Giles, Reporter
(Sky 3 | WBTV)
(Sky 3 | WBTV) CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A trailer carrying bees was involved in an accident with three tractor trailers on I-85 Tuesday, blocking three lanes of traffic and causing major delays.
The crash happened just after 3 p.m. on northbound I-85 on the Catawba River bridge, which is just north of Exit 27. Officials confirmed one of the vehicles involved was loaded with honey bees and yellow jackets.
NC Department of Transportation officials said the three lanes were expected to be closed for several hours, and urged drivers to seek alternate routes. All lanes were back open around 6 p.m.
WBTV's Sky 3 was over the scene, where a large swarm of bees could be seen on the rail of the bridge.
It appeared that three tractor trailers and a smaller vehicle pulling a trailer collided with one another. Two of the tractor trailers had heavy front-end damage.
Medic said one person suffered minor injuries in the crash, and is expected to be OK. Investigators have not said how the crash may have happened.
Robert Stephens, a Gastonia resident hauling a trailer down I-85, said he didn't expect the accident to happen or the swarm of bees to pop up.
"It was very scary. I didn't know where they was coming from," said Stephens about the bees. "I didn't know there was a truck in this whole deal here that was hauling bees."
Stephens said he was stung several times and had to be given benadryl by some of the first responders.
"They attacked me. I got stung like 50 times - in my nose, ears, everywhere," said Stephens.
Additional crews and a beekeeper were called to the scene to deal with the bees.
Tommy Helms, a certified North Carolina state beekeeper, said he was called out to the situation by state troopers. He explained to WBTV what happened along I-85.
"The tractor trailer carrying the bees got tangled up in the wreck and spilled a few bees on the bridge there over the Catawba River," said Helms.
Helms said the trailer was hauling close to 400 hives at the time of the accident. He said there wasn't much he or any of the other first responders could do regarding the bee situation. Helms said they were able to let some of the insects calm down at the scene, but firefighters had to spray some of the others with foam to kill them.
"The rescue people couldn't get into the wreck scene so we just eliminated that problem," said Helms.
It took hours for emergency crews to clear the scene of the accident. Helms said some of the bees may linger around the accident site until nightfall. The beekeeper said he plans to go check the crash site Tuesday night to see if there are any clusters of bees that he might be able to collect.
He said the truck hauling the bees was traveling from Florida to New York, and is now back on the road.