One person died, at least one more was hurt and traffic near Muddy Gap was halted for hours Wednesday night when a larger passenger vehicle and a commercial truck collided, according to official and witness accounts.
Dan Langely, a cross-country commercial truck driver, was among the first people to see the aftermath of what he called a head-on collision on Wyoming Highway 220 near the Muddy Gap junction in Carbon County.
That was just before 7 p.m., according to scanner traffic at the time.
“First off, it was hailing. There were, like, 4 inches of hail on the ground right before I got to Muddy Gap,” Langely recalled, describing his descent from South Pass.
It had rained in the Muddy Gap area as well, he recalled.
When he turned left, Langley met four vehicles flashing their lights to alert him of a problem, he said.
‘Absolutely’ A Head-On
No one was alerting the radio airwaves, though.
“I’ve got a CB radio (since two of the warning vehicles were semitrucks), but nobody sent me anything,” said Langely.
Then he noticed three vehicles pulled over to his right and four to his left, with people trying to learn about the situation.
He noticed a black minivan or small SUV with severe front-end damage, its motor missing and airbags deployed.
“It looked like it took the brunt of the hit on the passenger side,” said Langely.
On the northbound side of the road, in the ditch, sat a semitruck that had been pulling a tanker. It showed front-end damage but was still upright, Langely recalled.
The evidence “absolutely” indicates a head-on collision, he added.
He drove up the road to get phone service so he could call 911.
“You need to get people coming,” Langely said, according to his interview.
The dispatcher just before 7 p.m. started describing reports of the scene on the scanner as a vehicle accident where a female was screaming that “she can’t get out.”
The dispatcher asked for a life flight, and said, “so far we have one victim.”
Lawmakers and others leaving the Wednesday meeting of the legislative Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee meeting in Casper were stalled on the highway until after 11 p.m., on-site observer Joey Correnti, who was returning home to Saratoga from the meeting, noted in a Thursday text message.
Two Wyoming Highway Patrol officials did not immediately return Cowboy State Daily requests for comment Thursday.
Ground, Air, Fire
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken confirmed in a Thursday morning statement that one person had died on scene. Another vehicle occupant was injured.
Deputies, Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers, emergency medical personnel, air medical crews and fire crews all responded, Bakken wrote.
“Out of respect for the family, the identity of the deceased will not be released at this time,” he wrote.
Bakken noted in a later phone call that the WHP is the lead agency on the case.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
