Teenager killed after he drives wrong way down freeway and smashes into truck full of flammable margarine



Killed: Jacob Blackmore, 19, died when his car crashed into a truck as he drove in the wrong direction down a freeway



A teenage wrong-way driver was killed when his car crashed into a truck loaded with highly-flammable margarine.

The eastbound lanes of the Interstate 285 in DeKalb County were shut for ten hours and many motorists had to spend the night in their cars as firefighters fought to douse the flames.

Jacob Blackmore, 19, was driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of the freeway at about midnight when he struck a truck driven by 57-year-old Rory Stewart, say police.

Both vehicles caught fire in a loud explosion a witness compared to a 'stick of dynamite going off'.

Firefighters pulled Mr Blackmore, of Marietta, from the wreckage but he died at the scene. Mr Stewart was unharmed.

Toxicology tests are due to be carried out on Mr Blackmore's body, said Mike Carlson, a police spokesman. More than 900 people have joined a Facebook group set up in his memory.



Traffic was at a complete standstill until around 7am, with rows of eastbound cars stretching back six miles on one of the busiest roads in Georgia at rush hour.

Firefighters worked through the night to extinguish the fire, which was fuelled by the truck's cargo of margarine. In the morning, they began scooping up the charred wreckage from the road as investigators tried to work out what had happened.

Death crash: Flames pour from the wreckage of a truck after a car smashed into it travelling in the wrong direction on the freeway

The authorities finally opened two lanes at 6.40am to allow some drivers to go home after a night stuck on the road.

The clean-up job was complicated by the combination of oil from the burning margarine and 15,000 gallons of water from firehoses, which created a hazmat - hazardous material - situation.

'Basically, margarine is oil and it burns quite well,' Mark McKinnon, Georgia Department of Transportation spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.



He added: 'Margarine can make the road very slick, so we had to bring sand out to soak up some of that margarine and get some traction for motorists once we open some lanes.'

Gridlock: Traffic jams stretched back six miles as the I285 in Georgia was shut for seven hours. Many drivers had to spend the night on the road

Clearing up: Firefighters take away the wreckage of the margarine truck and try to stop its cargo leaking into the water system

And he told Channel 2 Action News it was crucial the oil was kept from getting in the drainage system.

He said: 'When it gets put on the roadway and then mixed with a lot of water and starts to run into the drainage system, it can get into the creeks and streams and cause a real problem, even with the drinking water in the area.'

All the lanes were reopened by 10.15am. Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.

