Crash kills 2 contractors; trooper hurt
Incident with semi occurred on I-40 in mobile work zone
Laura Testino and Alexa Imani Spencer
Two Tennessee Department of Transportation contractors were killed and one injured in a crash early Wednesday morning along Interstate 40 in Arlington.
A state trooper was also injured, Tennessee Highway Patrol confirmed in a statement. The trooper was transported to Regional One Medical Center where he is recovering.
The two deceased TDOT employees who worked for A&A Safety Inc., which is based in Amelia, Ohio were identified by the company as Jared Helton, 22,
and Justin Stafford, 30.
Cody Cantrell, 22, who also worked for the company, suffered non-lifethreatening injuries.
All three workers lived in Kentucky and had been with the company for one to two years.
“Right now, we’re investigating everything we can,” A&A Safety Inc. Human Resources Manager Tom Mclaughlin said.
The company is working with Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Transportation, Tennessee Highway Patrol and medical examiners to investigate the incident.
This is the company’s first fatal onduty accident, Mclaughlin said.
According to TDOT reports, one contractor was working in a mobile work zone within a lane closure, replacing the reflectors along the centerline of the interstate, when the crash occurred.
TDOT tweeted Wednesday that the department is “extremely saddened by the loss of two contract workers” and saddened for the injured trooper.
“Please Work with Us, Move Over – Slow down,” the tweet also said.
The department’s “Work with Us” campaign asks drivers to move over and slow down for emergency and state highway vehicles and workers. As part of the campaign, TDOT created a marker to honor the 112 workers who died in the line of duty from 1948, when the state first began documenting worker deaths, to April 2017.
Wednesday’s incident involved a semitrailer and was reported just before 4 a.m. near mile marker 26.
Earlier Wednesday morning, traffic on I-40 westbound was being redirected at mile marker 28 because of the accident.
Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Critical Incident Response Team, Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Criminal Investigation Division, along with Memphis District Troopers were investigating the scene Wednesday morning, THP confirmed in a statement.