PHOTOS: Driver killed in fiery truck wreck identified; part of Arkansas interstate remains shut

This photo by the Jonesboro Police Department shows a heavily-damaged truck after a fiery wreck Tuesday morning.
This photo by the Jonesboro Police Department shows a heavily-damaged truck after a fiery wreck Tuesday morning.

6 P.M. UPDATE:

Structural engineers say a bridge in northeast Arkansas is not in danger of collapse after an 18-wheeler crashed into the span earlier Tuesday.

Still, a portion of northbound travel on Interstate 555 in Craighead County will remain detoured in the area until further notice, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. Southbound traffic has been allowed to resume.

The deadly crash happened around 9:15 a.m. as 57-year-old Jackie Becker of Jonesboro was traveling north on the interstate at the Harrisburg Road exit.

Becker’s tractor-trailer, which was hauling “assorted merchandise,” hit a bridge support for the Arkansas 1B overpass in Jonesboro, causing it to burst into flames, police said.

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Photos by Jonesboro Police Department and Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department

Officials said Tuesday evening that three of the 10 beams supporting the bridge deck have no support underneath and have begun to sag under the weight of the structure.

“This has caused the deck to crack in the immediate area,” a release from the Highway Department states, noting that the span is “stable.”

The bridge’s four support columns were also affected as a result of the fiery crash, including one that was completely destroyed. Two other columns sustained “heavy damage,” officials said.

Until debris from the crash has been removed, crews will not be able to install temporary shoring for additional support.

Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

— Brandon Riddle

1:15 P.M. UPDATE:

Authorities have identified the driver who died after his 18-wheeler struck a beam of an overpass on Interstate 555 and caught fire earlier Tuesday.

Jackie Becker, 57, of Jonesboro, was traveling north on I-555 when his tractor-trailer hit a bridge support for the Arkansas 1B overpass in Jonesboro, the city's police department said in a news release.

The truck, which was hauling "assorted merchandise," burst into flames, said Jonesboro Police Department spokesman Paul Holmes. There's no indication any of the items being transported in the truck were made of hazardous materials, Holmes said.

Crews continue to work on the northbound lane of I-555 in the area, which will be closed for at least 24 hours, state police said around 11 a.m.

— Emma Pettit

EARLIER:

Part of an interstate in northeast Arkansas is closed for at least 24 hours after a tractor-trailer ran into a beam of an overpass and caught fire, killing the driver Tuesday morning, officials said.

The truck was traveling on Interstate 555 near the Arkansas 1B overpass in Jonesboro when the 18-wheeler crashed into one of the beams of the structure, Arkansas State Police spokeswoman Liz Chapman said around 9:15 a.m.

The truck caught fire, and explosions were heard by other drivers in the area, Chapman said. The driver, who has not been identified, was already dead when authorities arrived, she said. It wasn't immediately clear what the truck was hauling.

The overpass has “serious damage” and state traffic officials are stopping any travelers from driving over it or under it, Chapman said.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said shortly after 11:45 a.m. that southbound lanes of the interstate were traveling normally, and northbound I-555 traffic was being diverted through on- and off-ramps at Exit 44. The overpass is closed, highway officials said.

Northbound I-555 will be shut down in that area for the next 24 hours as crews work to fix the damage, state police tweeted around 11 a.m.

— Emma Pettit

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