Icy roads kill one, slip up tractor-trailers

Henderson, N.C. — Authorities reopened interstates and bridges early Saturday after black ice caused multiple wrecks and killed one person overnight.

Stanley Massey, 63, of Zebulon, died when his vehicle skidded on an icy bridge along Bryantown Road, near N.C. Highway 97, in Nash County and hit a tree around 3:30 a.m.

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Tractor-trailer hits Henderson house

Interstate 85 North through Henderson was closed for about two hours while crews cleaned up a wreck at mile marker 215 involving a tractor-trailer wreck carrying cars. Wilson police said that the Renfrow bridge should be reopened by 9 a.m.

Patches of ice caused multiple wrecks on I-85, and numerous people were taken to WakeMed in Raleigh for minor injuries, according to the Henderson Fire Department.

Also in Henderson, a NAPA Auto Parts tractor-trailer hit an icy spot on a curve and slid off the road, running into a house at 4297 Warrenton Road shortly after midnight, state troopers said.

Homeowner Christine Foster-Roseboro said she and her two children were in bed watching TV when the tractor-trailer hit their house. Neither she nor her children were injured, and EMTs treated the tractor-trailer driver for minor injuries at the scene.

The wreck tore apart a porch on the front of the house and damaged Roseboro's car and a neighbor's car and shed.

Troopers said they did not plan to charge the driver, who was not speeding.

DOT trucks spread sand and salt on roads and bridges in Vance and Wilson counties.

Dense fog and the icy patches began to disappear as the sun rose later Saturday morning. Earlier, fog had cut visibility to as little as zero or a quarter-mile south of a line through Burlington, Raleigh and Rocky Mount.

Overnight, the fog deposited moisture on roads that turned into ice when temperatures dipped below freezing in some places, WRAL Meteorologist Mike Moss explained. Temperatures remained in the low to mid 30s early Saturday.

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