BELLWOOD -- A semi-truck tractor and a maroon minivan crashed about 7:45 a.m. at the intersection of County Road D and U.S. Highway 64, three miles west of Bellwood.
Initial reports indicated a vehicle fire at the location and first responders from Bellwood Fire and Rescue and David City Fire and Rescue were dispatched to the scene. Butler County Sheriff deputies and members of the Columbus Fire Department also responded to the call.
The names of the drivers were not immediately available. Sources at the scene said there were no passengers in either vehicle.
Firefighters worked for nearly an hour in sub-zero temperatures, worsened by gusting winds, to extract the driver from the minivan, which showed evidence of fire in the engine compartment.
“I have no word yet on any fatalities,” Butler County firefighter Ken Krafka said this morning. “We got the call at roughly 7:45 a.m. this morning. I haven’t heard anything on the radio or from the Nebraska State Patrol that there are any fatalities.”
Krafka was directing traffic at the scene.
Debris was scattered across the crash site. It was not apparent what directions the vehicles were traveling at the time of the incident. The minivan came to rest facing northeast in the north side ditch. The semi-tractor was at rest facing east in the eastbound lane of the highway.
“The roads around here are hard packed so we’re able to redirect traffic around the scene without any problems,” Krafka said. The Butler County Sheriff’s said the highway was reopened by 10:30 a.m.
About 8:25 a.m., a Lifenet helicopter arrived, landing in a corn field near the minivan. The helicopter was from Faith Regional Health Services inNorfolk.
Sources at the scene said one female was flown to a hospital in Lincoln.
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