I-94 pile-up claims one life, closes interstate for hours

by Kelli Cheatham (kcheatham@wsbt.com)

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Emergency crews respond to a multiple car pileup at mile marker 27 on I-94

Emergency crews responded to a multiple car pileup at mile marker 27 on I-94 on Sunday, December 21, 2008. (Photo courtesy YouNews user JeffDana)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Dec 21, 2008 at 8:46 PM EST

Story Updated: Dec 25, 2008 at 4:26 PM EST

BERRIEN COUNTY — A 100 car pile-up killed one man and closed I-94 near St. Joseph, Michigan for hours Sunday. Police said speed, whiteout conditions and icy roads are to blame. It happened around noon at the 27 mile-marker near the Niles Avenue overpass in St. Joseph. The crash shut down 11 miles of I-94 for hours.

"It was pretty bad," said William Walsh, of Le Mont, IL. "Pretty much whiteout conditions."

Walsh remembered seeing cars spin out in front of him just before he was hit from behind.

Shaun Deckard was driving east bound on I-94 with his wife and four children as passengers.

"And cars are just hitting us, hitting us, hitting us," Deckard told WSBT.

More than 70 cars and semis quickly piled up on the interstate. About 30 additional vehicles crashed into ditches and guardrails, trying to avoid the pile-up.

"I probably dodged 3, 4, maybe 5 cars," said Deckard. "Then I clipped one car and that's when I saw there was a tractor trailer jackknifed right in front of the road. There was no avoiding that. And as soon as I hit that, it was just impact, after impact, after impact hitting us in the back."

Tow truck drivers cleared the cars into a nearby parking lot.

"One right after another, just as fast as we could get them out of there," said Paul Starkey from Jeff's Towing and Recovery.

The snow, wind and blizzard conditions never let up.

"It's brutal," Starkey continued.

31-year-old Raymond Candage III of Elgin, IL died in the pile-up when his car hit a stopped semi. But those who lived through it say walking away un-harmed is the best Christmas gift they could ever get.

"[We're] very lucky to be alive," said William Walsh.

"We are all safe, we are all fine," echoed Shaun Deckard.

Aside from the one fatality, police say there were no other serious injuries.

Police say this is not the worst pile-up they've seen on that stretch of I-94. Six or seven years ago there was a pretty bad pile-up where I-94 meets State Road 139 in Michigan.

Police say there was also a fatality in that crash — but many of the other people involved were hurt pretty seriously.

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