Families Of Victims, First Responders Revisit Deadly Highway Pileup 1 Year Later
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Friday, Feb. 11 marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly pileup on an icy Fort Worth highway.
The early morning chain reaction crash involving 135 vehicles on I-35W left six people dead.
"Losing Aaron was like having our lungs ripped out. And then being told we have to learn how to breathe without them," said Aaron Watson's widow, Jane.
The Fort Worth Fire Department shared a video of first responders talking about a day and a scene they will never forget.
"When we crested the hill it was very, very difficult to get our two rigs stopped," remembered Engineer/EMT Matt Brown. "And we stopped within feet of being involved in the accident ourselves. Something that helped us - the Saginaw Fire Department shut the highway down and that stopped it from being even bigger than it already was because it was still occurring even after we had come to a stop."
Brown said he remembers cars stuck in the air.
Horns were still honking and the wheels still turning on some of the vehicles.
He called the accident scene "surreal."
The pileup happened shortly before 6:30 a.m. after freezing rain and sleet fell overnight and into the morning, leaving roadways across North Texas wet and slick.
First responders called the crash a "mass casualty incident."
Rescuers had difficulty reaching some victims because of the pileup and the blocked roadway.
The video ended with the following statement:
"We remember the lives lost and those forever impacted by this tragedy on February 11, 2021 in Fort Worth."
On Friday, the Fort Worth Fire Department will hold a small, private ceremony honoring the memory of the victims.