“He’s lucky to be alive.”
That’s what one first responder said about Bruceton Public Works employee Shannon Sloan Monday morning, after a semi plowed through a work zone on Broad Street, crashing the town’s utility truck into four employees as they worked on a water leak.
According to a preliminary report released by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), 77-year-old David Hubbs of Camden was driving east-bound on Broad Street, when the 2025 Peterbilt he drove for Cole Pallet Company crossed into the construction zone and crashed into a 2008 Ford F-250 owned by the Town of Bruceton.
Despite workers having coned off the closed lane about 400 feet from the work site and setting up bright orange barriers, a digital sign, and other safety measures, the semi crossed into the zone.
The impact launched the F-250 forward. It fell partially into a pit, hitting Sloan, who was working on a water line inside.
The F-250 and other debris struck three other employees in varying capacities.
Baptist EMS transported employees Randy Crossett, Emmanuel Dupree, and Alan Paschall to Baptist Hospital in Huntingdon.
A Medical helicopter transported Sloan to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville.
All four employees returned home later that evening, and are said to have received good reports from their doctors. Crossett, Dupree, and Paschall are back to work. Sloan will be out for several days.
“This right here has always been my worst nightmare, working near this highway,” Public Works Supervisor Andy Baker said at the scene.
Prior to the accident, two Bruceton Police Officers sat, one at each end of the construction zone. They were first on scene.
Baker had returned with a piece of pipe, and saw the aftermath of the impact upon his arrival.
Officers quickly called for EMS and other responders.
Aside from Bruceton Police Department, the Bruceton Fire Department, THP, Carroll County Fire Department, Baptist EMS, and others responded to the scene.
Various pieces of both vehicles’ body trim, along with tools and other items, littered the area.
Orange cones laid under the broken front axle of the Peterbilt, which blocked the rightmost east-bound lane of Broad Street.
The nose of Bruceton’s Public Works truck teetered on the edge of a hole in the highway, where the leak repair took place. It rested on the bucket of the town’s backhoe. Had the backhoe not been there and in the position it was in, the front-end of the F-250 would have gone further into the pit.
After the scene cleared, the towns of Huntingdon and Hollow Rock sent public works personnel to Bruceton to help finish the water line repair.
Jkee Towing towed the F-250 away, and Prime Towing got the semi.
Mayor Robert T. Keeton, III released a statement later Monday thanking the community for their support and first responders for their quick action.
“All members of our crew are okay and have no lasting injuries, and for that we are incredibly grateful,” he said.
Carroll County Observer reached out to Cole Pallet Company for a statement, and still awaiting a return call.
According to THP’s report, Hubbs faces a Due Care violation.
