Speed was a factor in fatal accident near Frannie last week

A 27-year-old Basin man, Scott Anderson, lost his life in a tragic accident that took place near the Wyoming Lime Producers plant 1.8 miles north of Frannie. The crash took place on Monday, July 8, at 10:05 p.m., literally on the dividing line between Park and Big Horn counties.

Deaver/Frannie Fire Chief Nick Loftus said nine firefighters and three fire trucks were sent to the scene, with one firefighter waiting on standby at a nearby fire station. He said the team had to use extrication tools to remove the driver from the vehicle, which appeared to have collided with the rear axle of the second trailer on the driver’s side of a semi-truck as it was making a turn into the entrance of the limestone plant. Loftus said the semi was carrying a full load of limestone at the time. 

Loftus noted that Anderson was wearing his seat belt and all airbags inside the vehicle were deployed in the crash. He said there was no fire when his crew arrived, but he heard that a small fire had been contained using a fire extinguisher belonging to the semi-truck driver before his crew arrived.

Highway 310 remained closed for about an hour and 45 minutes, according to Loftus, as first responders directed traffic around the scene.

He said in addition to the Deaver/Frannie fire crew, Big Horn County Sheriff’s deputies, Carbon County Montana deputies, Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers and a North Big Horn Hospital ambulance were on the scene.

“The crash is under the jurisdiction of the Wyoming Highway Patrol,” said Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn. “We did respond, though. Initially the information made it sound like a rollover, and the location was not certain. When we got there, it did appear that the vehicle traveling near the state border collided with a semi-truck turning in to one of the limestone plants.”

According to Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper Crosby Ralston, Anderson was traveling south on Hwy 310 in a 2018 black Ford Escape. He said several witnesses reported the vehicle passing cars at a high rate of speed prior to the crash. 

“From what we’ve been able to gather, it started up in Montana,” explained Ralston. “We had a few witnesses report they got passed while they were traveling around 70 to 75 mph by the black Ford Escape, which they estimated was traveling at 100-plus miles per hour.”

Ralston said after Anderson crossed the border from Montana into Wyoming, he was passing another vehicle as he crossed the state line. As he was coming back into what would be his normal lane of travel near Wyoming Lime Producers, he was traveling at a speed of approximately 115 mph. Ralston said information from a data box retrieved from the Ford Escape indicated that at 1.5 seconds prior to impact, the vehicle was traveling at 114.9 mph. The box indicated the driver also took his foot off the gas pedal at the 1.5-second mark. The data indicates the brake was activated one second prior to impact, however, there were no visible skid marks on the road. At the time of impact, the box indicated the driver’s rate of speed was 82.2 mph.

Ralston said that the information may not give a clear picture regarding the braking, because the vehicle was traveling at such a high rate of speed, noting that the information was yet to be reviewed and interpreted by crash team experts.

“It’s pretty easy to read this information and it’s matched up with our estimations,” he said. “Since we didn’t see any skid marks on the road or other evidence of braking, we think the data box information regarding braking may be off and the vehicle may have already made impact. The force of the impact was about double what we normally see in a fatal crash.”

Ralston noted that, though the driver of the limestone truck was not injured, he was “shaken up” by the crash. Nonetheless, the quick-acting driver extinguished a fire that had started in the Ford with a small fire extinguisher he kept in his truck. 

“There’s plenty of warning signs (about truck traffic) in this turn, and the truck driver did have his turning signal on,” said Ralston. “His brake lights and all of the lights on the truck were working prior to the crash, as far as we could tell.”

Ralston said first responders were thankful for passing motorists who stopped and tried to help shortly after the accident. He noted that one just happened to be a flight nurse, who was very helpful at the scene.

“The speed limit is what it is for a reason,” Ralston said. “Traveling at speeds in excess of 70 mph is always a risk. The higher the speed, the more likely there will be serious injuries in a crash.”