Racine County crash, fire; semi-truck drivers dead

YORKVILLE, Wis. - The Racine County Sheriff's Office responded to a double-fatal crash on State Highway 11 on Tuesday, June 14.

The crash involved two semi-trucks, one which became fully engulfed in flames. The drivers of both semi-trucks are dead, the sheriff's office said.

On Thursday, the Racine County medical examiner identified the drivers as 57-year-old Kevin Shufford of Connelly Spring, North Carolina and 60-year-old Timothy Platt of Indianapolis. Autopsy and toxicology results are pending.

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A semi-truck pulling a flatbed trailer was headed west on State Highway 11 when it crossed the centerline and crashed head-on into an eastbound semi-truck hauling a dry bulk tanker, officials said. It happened around 10:30 a.m.

The westbound semi-truck and flatbed became fully engulfed in flames. The eastbound semi-truck and tanker came to a rest on its side.

Racine County crash scene near 57th Drive and State Highway 11

"It’s awful. Yeah. It shook us up, that’s for sure," said area resident Patti Hopkins. "My granddaughter and I were on the front porch, she was in her swimming pool and I heard a loud explosion."

Hopkins feared her neighbor and his farm were involved; she had just seen him cutting hay. It wasn't until later that she realized the fire on her neighbor's property was from the semi-truck.

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"I was so shook up," she said. "All of a sudden all the smoke was billowing, explosions."

The tires from the trucks started popping "one after the other," said Hopkins – estimating there were at least eight or nine explosions. 

State Highway 11 from I-94 to U.S. Highway 45 – a stretch of more than five miles – will be shut down for an extended period of time, officials said. Motorists are asked to avoid the area.