3 hurt in fiery crash on I-65

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Three motorists, including a Brownstown teen, were hurt in a four-vehicle crash on Interstate 65 near Uniontown.

None of the injured, including 19-year-old Mackenzie Pritchett of Brownstown, suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash that led to a vehicle catching fire and burning Monday afternoon.

That vehicle fire was the second one reported within minutes and about a mile from each other on the interstate. The first involved a semitrailer driven by Clifton Bennett Jr., 48, of Sunman.

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Bennett, who was hauling 40,000 pounds of peanut butter, told Indiana State Police Trooper Seth Davidson he was driving north when he noticed the trailer’s brakes had caught fire.

Bennett pulled the rig off the interstate and tried to put the fire out. The fire, however, was too intense, he said, so he separated the 1985 Western Star tractor and 2013 Great Dane trailer, which was destroyed along with its contents. Bennett was not hurt.

The other fire destroyed a 2005 Nissan Altima driven by Richard Kermode. The incident started when the 48-year-old Indianapolis man’s vehicle rear-ended Pritchett’s vehicle, according to a report from state Trooper Randel Miller.

Pritchett and other motorists driving north were stopped by the semitrailer fire near the 44-mile marker.

After Kermode’s vehicle hit Pritchett’s 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse, it was pushed forward into a 2008 Hyundai Sonata driven by Dawn York, 38, of Kenosha, Wisconsin. York’s vehicle was then pushed into a Mercury Mariner driven by June Beatty, 45, of Shepherdsville, Kentucky.

Kermode’s vehicle caught fire shortly after hitting the Mitsubishi.

Pritchett, York and Beatty each were treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries. Kermode was not injured but was cited for driving too fast to avoid a collision.

The wreck was reported at 2:38 p.m, and the northbound lanes of I-65 reopened around 6:30 p.m.

ISP was assisted by Jackson-Washington Township, Redding Township and Crothersville-Vernon Township volunteer fire departments and Jackson County Emergency Medical Services.

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