ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Thousands of potatoes scattered, smothered and covered the side of Interstate 95 on Wednesday following a multi-vehicle crash that shut down lanes for hours.
St. Johns County Fire Rescue said it responded to the crash involving two semi-trucks and an SUV on I-95 between State Road 206 and State Road 207.
Recommended Videos
All northbound lanes of Interstate 95 were closed following the crash around 12:30 p.m. and reopened just after 2:30 p.m.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the two semis collided near SR-206 which caused one of them to flip and spill its load of hundreds of pounds of potatoes. The other semi-truck jackknifed, FHP said.
Two other vehicles hit the guardrail trying to avoid the crash.
Alex Padilla was driving just behind the crash and captured it on his dash camera, which he shared with News4JAX. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt.
One person involved complained of knee pain but no one had to be taken to a hospital, FHP said.
By 1:30 p.m., traffic was backed up near the Flagler County line so FHP diverted to SR-206. Southbound lanes were also backed up.
FHP said it called its Rapid Incident Scene Clearance crews, which includes Road Rangers bringing gasoline to drivers who were running low while waiting for the lanes to reopen.
The crash is not far from Spuds, an unincorporated community in St. Johns County that depends economically on potato growing and other agriculture.
