Fiery crash on I-75 closes Pate Road bridge in Monroe County

The Pate Road bridge over Interstate 75 in Monroe County will be closed for repairs after a fiery crash early early Sunday morning between a tractor trailer and a car.

Deputies in Monroe and Bibb counties will be out Monday to assist with detours and possible heavy traffic on New Forsyth and Rivoli roads and at Pate Road at Ga. 87.

Drivers are urged to use caution as delays are possible. 

“One person was pulled from the crash and taken to the (emergency room) for treatment,” authorities said via a Facebook post. “Other than that, thankfully no one was hurt or killed.”

Christopher Fryer, of Dallas in west Georgia, was driving the empty refrigerator truck that left the road and overturned, blocking all lanes of I-75 North.

A Toyota Venza, driven by Rodney Hill, of Pennsylvania, hit the overturned truck.

But Hill and his passenger, Richard Bradshaw, pulled Fryer to safety before the flames devoured both vehicles.

After several hours, interstate lanes reopened after authorities cleared the two vehicles, according to the Monroe County Emergency Management Facebook page.

Engineers will assess any damages caused by the fire and order repairs.

“The intensity of the fire caused the concrete to start cracking,” Allison Selman-Willis, public information officer of Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, said.

Selman-Willis said they have been working with Bibb County to help in areas where they think will see increased traffic because of closed-off Pate Road bridge.

She added that it could take “several weeks” for repairs of that overpass.

“We ask for patience while the engineers from the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Monroe County Road Department work this out,” officials said in an updated Facebook post. “We apologize for the inconvenience but this is for the safety of all.”

To contact writer David Schick, call 744-4382 or find him on Twitter@davidcschick.

This story was originally published September 20, 2015 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Fiery crash on I-75 closes Pate Road bridge in Monroe County."