March 25, 2002

McGREGOR TRUCK DRIVER KILLED IN HWAY 36 ACCIDENT
(CAMERON) A McGregor truck driver became Cameron's first traffic fatality of the year Monday. Another truck driver was transported to the hospital following a near head on collision on West 4^th. A 3rd vehicle involved, a pickup pulling a trailer loaded with round hay bales, sustained moderate damage, but the driver was not hurt. The accident happened around 3 p.m. Monday on Hwy 36, (West 4th) in front of Milam Plaza in Cameron. Jim Carter of Cameron was eastbound and had stopped to make a left turn into Napa Auto. He told KMIL News at the scene, he had stopped to allow an oncoming tractor-trailer rig hauling John Deere Tractors, to pass, when his hay trailer was struck from the rear by an eastbound truck tractor hauling automobiles. The collision caused the truck tractor to cross the center stripe where it collided with the westbound truck tractor head on. The driver of the rig hauling the automobiles, Randall Dean Isaac, 39 of McGregor, was thrown from the cab and was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:18 p.m. by Justice of the Peace Chip Dunsmoor. The body was taken to Marek-Burns-Laywell Funeral Home in Cameron. Isaac was carrying a driver�s license listing a Canton, Texas address. Investigators finally traced his residence to McGregor Monday night. The driver of the other 18 wheeler, Lawrence Scarth, 60 of Florida, was transported by EMS to Scott & White Hospital in Temple where he was treated and released. Carter was not hurt. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission was contacted because fuel tanks from both truck tractor rigs ruptured spilling diesel across the highway. The Texas Highway Department was called to sand down the highway. It was estimated that more than 150 gallons of fuel was spilled. The Hwy was shut down for more than 4 hours while the wreck was cleared. Traffic was re-routed down Orchard, Main and Colefax. Cameron Police officers Terry Drummond and Wes Male were assisted at the scene by DPS Troopers Michael Nix and Jimmy Morgan, and the Milam County Sheriff's Department. Monday's accident marks the second fatality on Milam County roads in 2002. The first fatality occurred on January 4th, less than a mile west of Monday's accident on Hwy 36, just outside the Cameron City Limits. (see story)

The driver of the rig hauling the automobiles (pictured above) was thrown from the cab and was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:18 p.m. by Justice of the Peace Chip Dunsmoor. The body was taken to Marek-Burns-Laywell Funeral Home in Cameron.

The driver of the other 18 wheeler (pictured above) was transported by EMS to Central Texas Hospital with undetermined injuries. Carter was not hurt.

The cab of the 18 wheeler driven by the deceased, was destroyed by the head-on collision.

Cameron Volunteer Firemen use the jaws-of-life to free one of the truck drivers.

Debris was scattered for about 200 yards along Hwy 36. The accident closed the Hwy for most of the evening as traffic was detoured onto Orchard, Main and Colefax.