Fort Worth Police Respond to Massive, Deadly Highway Crash North Carolina’s Operation Safe DRIVE Seeks to Save Lives

Fort Worth Police Respond to Massive, Deadly Highway Crash

By Sgt. R. Traylor, Traffic Division, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, Fort Worth Police Department

On Feb. 11, 2021, at around 6 a.m., the Fort Worth [Texas] Police Department responded to what was initially a crash that involved “a few vehicles.” By the end of the day, Fort Worth would find itself at the center of the nation’s attention in a tragic way.

As I drove into work that icy morning, an allblack Police Chevy Tahoe with operating lights passed me on the shoulder of IH-35 as it entered the tollway express lanes. As a former Traffic Investigation Unit (TIU) detective, I recognized that Tahoe. I knew right away there had to have been a fatality since that is the primary reason for a TIU response.

Minutes later, I received a phone call from Sgt. F. Brown with TIU. He asked me if I had made it to the office yet. Because traffic was at a standstill, I had not. He stated there had been a crash involving “about 40 cars” and he needed every available detective to respond. Having known Sgt. Brown for many years, I’d never heard so much concern in his voice, which by default concerned me.

My unit, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, routinely assists TIU in fatality investigations involving commercial motor vehicles. At the time I spoke with Sgt. Brown, there had not been any mention of commercial motor vehicles; therefore, I continued to the office. As photos and videos began to circulate, I saw more and more commercial motor vehicles and began to determine what personnel I had available to assist with this crash investigation. At the time, I had only one officer from my unit available to respond, Ofc. G. Ordonez. I called Ofc. Ordonez who said he also learned that commercial motor vehicles were involved and that he was close by and would respond. Ofc. Ordonez later stated the carnage was such that he could only observe it from a distance due to the number of other responding emergency vehicles, including the Fort Worth Fire Department and MedStar Mobile Healthcare.

I made it to the scene to assist with managing police personnel and locating potential survivors and/or deceased. The scene looked like one from a movie production, except the emotions were all too genuine. As we searched and began our investigations, many people would stop their vehicles in the nearest traffic lane to ask us if their loved one was among the deceased or injured. Emotions were hard to control as citizen after citizen would stop and accurately describe a vehicle mangled in the carnage, but because the investigation was early and positive identifications had not yet been determined, we could not provide definitive confirmations.

In the end, 132 passenger vehicles and 16 commercial motor vehicles were involved in this tragedy. Unfortunately, six people lost their lives and many others were injured, and for everyone involved, life as they knew it would change forever.

Since this investigation, other law enforcement agencies have reached out offering support and wanting to know how we managed to get through this operationally. The truth is, no matter how much you train, it’s difficult to understand how you prepare for something no one thought would ever happen. Everyone who responded to that scene, under the most intolerable weather conditions and emotional stress, all knew one thing: We had a sense of duty and purpose to serve our fellow citizens. On that cold tragic day in February, we held up our end and will continue to do so under any and all circumstances. n