Bartow County EMS responded to an accident on Highway 41 in front of Zep Products. A runaway tractor trailer, loaded with cleaning solvents and other toxic materials, is blamed for the fatal wreck. The semi hit a pickup truck carrying a family of four on Highway 41 in Emerson.
The first EMS crew on the scene requested two additional EMS units be enroute to assist. The tractor trailer had to be lifted off the pickup truck for EMS to remove the patients. A male was transported to Kennestone hospitbal, two small children were transported to Scottish Rite and were in stable, but serious, conditions, and a female was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the Emerson Police Department, the driver was performing a safety check in the parking lot and forgot to set the brakes, thus resulting in the truck rolling 50 yards into the highway.
The driver of the semi has been arrested on DUI charges.