Clarksdale Man Killed In Fiery Crash
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One person was killed and two sustained serious injuries in a crash on Hwy. 32 west of Water Valley Monday morning. – Photo by Mae Avant
WATER VALLEY – One person was killed and two sustained serious injuries in a fiery two-vehicle crash on Hwy. 32 west of Water Valley Monday morning. Yalobusha County Coroner Ronnie Stark reported Chris Cannimore, age 22, of Clarksdale was ejected from his vehicle, an eastbound Kia, that ignited upon impact. Cannimore was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bubba Eubanks was behind the pickup, headed west on Hwy. 32 and witnessed the wreck.
“I was right behind the truck when it happened, I saw the whole thing,” Eubanks told the Herald. “He hit that water. He was going a little too fast.”
The wreck occurred just west of the Hwy. 32 and County Road 53 intersection along a portion of the state highway that holds water after a rain.
Eubanks jumped out of his vehicle to see if he could help and assisted a seriously male occupant get out of the pickup. He also checked on Cannimore, but he was already deceased.
Eubanks then focused on rescuing the female occupant trapped inside the truck, but was unable to open the door. He quickly searched for a tool to help pry it open, and even tried to flag several passing vehicles for help with no success.
Finally he mustered enough strength to jerk the door open.
“The fire was spreading fast,” Eubanks added.
The female was still trapped inside the vehicle, and it took Eubanks several attempts to free her and pull her away from the burning truck. Finally he had husband and wife a safe distance from the truck..
“By the time I got them away from the truck, the whole cab was burning,” he added.
Eubanks estimated the entire ordeal lasted five or six minutes.
“I just did what anybody else would have done, I could not sit there and watch somebody burn,” Eubanks said.
He went back to see if he could get Cannimore away from the burning vehicles, but by that time it was too hot. Eubanks said first responders were on the scene shortly after the rescue.
Bubba Eubanks snapped this picture of the burning pickup shortly after pulling both occupants to safety. The photo shows the life-threatening situation the trapped female faced if Eubanks had not been able to rescue her.
The injured man and woman were transported in an ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital – Oxford. Eubanks said a friend reached out Tuesday and learned that both had survived and the female had a leg amputated.
Yalobusha County EMA Director Stewart Spence reported Yalobusha County deputies, Sylva Rena Fire Department and the Mississippi Highway Patrol responded to the accident. With the burn damage to the Kia vehicle, he said it was difficult for first responders to identify the make and model and to determine the identity of the deceased driver.
“We finally figured out it was a Kia,” Yalobusha County Deputy EMA Director Jarred Logan explained. “And only because the impact knocked the front bumper off and it was away from the burned vehicle.”
Stark reported state troopers worked throughout much of Monday to determine the identity of the deceased driver, who did not have a wallet or identifying information on his person when he was ejected from the vehicle. Stark also explained that the fire destroyed any identifying information that was inside the car.
“Troopers used social media to make a tentative identification, and were ultimately able to make a conclusive match,” Stark said.
The fatal crash came during a busy morning for first responders that started with a house fire at 12:58 a.m. on County Road 211 between Water Valley and Oakland.
Logan reported the home was damaged but possibly not a complete loss following a strong response from Coffeeville and Velma fire departments and volunteers from other departments. The house is located across from the Yalobusha Gin.
“Mostly smoke damage and heat, it was a hot fire,” Logan said.
Spence added that the suspected origin of the fire is a wall heater that the owner thought had been disconnected.
Another wreck was reported later in the morning on Hwy. 330 east of Coffeeville after a vehicle left the roadway. Logan said there were no injuries reported and the crash was likely also weather-related with one-and-one-half inches to two inches reported in the county Monday morning.
“The rain hit on that end of the county around 6 a.m. and this crash was around that time,” Logan said.
