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With the smell of diesel fuel still hanging in the air, Thomas Hicks and his family took comfort that he had survived a crash so forceful that the cab of a semi-tractor trailer ended up on the fishing pier beneath the Clyde B. Wells Bridge.
?It appeared the cab of the semi was ripped off and landed on the lower bridge, the driver was ejected,? said Sean Hughes, deputy chief of the South Walton Fire District who was working the scene beneath the bridge.
At the top of the bridge, the remnants of the two vehicles were scattered across both lanes: The frame, motor and trailer from a Consolidated Ace Hardware truck rested on the northbound side of the bridge. Hicks? pickup truck, the detached truck bed and a trailer he was hauling were on the southbound side. The Bobcat from Hicks? trailer nudged up to the semi.
Details of the accident were sketchy, but one witness, 17-year-old Paul Langley of Inlet Beach was three cars back and saw, ?a cloud of smoke and the truck went through it.?
Langley was headed north and noticed ?one of the trucks had a digger on it.?
There was so much smoke he didn?t see what caused the accident.
Langley saw a victim down on the road below and went to see if the guy was OK.
?He wasn?t.?
?I couldn?t tell you what happened,? said Hicks, owner of Thomas Hicks Landscaping and Irrigation in Santa Rosa Beach. ?It?s just a blur to me.?
South Walton firefighters contained a diesel spill on the bridge. The Coast Guard and the Florida Department of Transportation worked to contain the spilled fuel in the Bay.
The accident occurred about 10:30 a.m. and the bridge was expected to remain closed until 6 p.m.