Around 10:35 PM on Thursday, July 7th, 2022, Smith County Sheriff’s Office and DPS units were requested to assist Cherokee County and Frankston PD on a pursuit headed northbound on FM 346 at CR 3506 in Teaselville.
Minutes later, DPS had spikes set at FM 344 where the vehicle, a Chevy Colorado, ran over them, popping a front and rear tire. The vehicle continued northbound, eventually turning west on FM 2868 with speeds reaching 75mph. At Highway 155 S, the driver turned northbound and headed towards Tyler, driving through active road construction with workers present just north of Grande Blvd. The pursuit came into Tyler, turning east on Loop 323.
Continuing at a high rate of speed, the driver ran a red light crossing Broadway Ave, nearly striking another car. At this point, deputies reported seeing heavy sparks from the front of the truck. The driver then crossed into the opposite lanes of traffic. Tyler PD reported a small grass fire at the 2000 BLK of E SE Loop 323 after the truck with heavy sparks went by.
The Pursuit came to an end and the driver was taken into custody at S SE Loop 323 and Valley View ST, just south of Fifth ST at 11:00 PM.
On Sunday, April 17th at approximately 9:56 PM, a Tyler Police Department officer witnessed a Crown Victoria traveling north on Loop 323 from Shaw St at a high rate of speed, unable to maintain a single lane. The officer then initiated a traffic stop but the driver of the vehicle did not stop. After the evading vehicle almost hit another car while running a red light, TPD decided to pursue the vehicle.
The suspect vehicle then traveled east on W Front St reaching speeds of 100mph, eventually turning south on Palace AVE. The vehicle continued on Vine AVE, which turns into Frankston HWY. While traveling south on Frankston HWY, the evading vehicle ran a red light and struck a Dodge Challenger at the intersection of Walton RD and Frankston HWY.
Due to the crash and the high rate of speed, both the driver and passenger of the evading vehicle were ejected.
At 10:01 PM, Tyler Police Department requested EMS to the scene. Tyler Fire Department’s Engine 5 and Ladder 2 along with UT Health EMS were dispatched to the location of the wreck. At this point, TPD shut down all north and southbound lanes to conduct an investigation. TPD called for Accident Investigations and Crime Scene Investigations.
The driver of the Dodge Challenger was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Both the driver and passenger of the Crown Vic were transported to the hospital as well. Their condition is unknown to RCEMedia at this time.
Tyler Police and Fire worked the scene of the accident for the next three and a half hours, reopening lanes at 1:30 AM, Monday, April 18th.
At 12:53 AM on Friday, April 15th, Tyler Fire Department’s Engine 1, Ladder 1, Battalion 1, Engine 5, Engine 7, Fire Marshal 7, and UT Health EMS were dispatched to the 900BLK of Mockingbird Ln for a structure fire.
Engine 7 arrived on scene at 12:59 AM and advised there was a fully involved wood-frame house. At 1:02 AM a second alarm was dispatched for Engine 2 and Ladder 2 to assist on the structure fire.
Tyler Fire crews worked quickly and strategically to extinguish the fire from all sides of the structure. Due to the large flames, a corner of a neighboring house caught fire along with a nearby vehicle. Different tools were used by firefighters to help locate fire on the roof and in the attic.
The single occupant of the home was taken to the hospital by UT Health EMS for non-life-threatening injuries.
At this moment, the cause of the fire is unknown and is currently being investigated by the Tyler Fire Marshal’s Office.
After a harsh winter storm hit East Texas bringing sub-freezing temperatures for an extended period of time, the Tyler Fire Department has been faced with an abnormally high incident-load that has kept crews on their trucks for most of the day. Incidents ranging from motor vehicle accidents, technical rescues, commercial/residential fire alarms, to assist the public calls, structure fires, assist EMS and medical calls, all in a single day. While these incidents are not uncommon, to have a high load of any sort of call can be out of the ordinary, and the winter weather is definitely to blame.
According to Oncor, at the time of this article, more than 11,000 customers are currently affected by power outages here in Smith County at the time of this posting. Because of this, residents are struggling to keep themselves and their homes warm. Water lines inside the walls are becoming more vulnerable as temperatures decrease and as a result, lines are breaking causing damage and flooding. Today in Tyler, this was a reality for many, as homes and apartment complexes dripped and filled with water from broken lines. Tyler Fire Department crews were the first to be called to come to aid and turn off the water to the residence after several homes flooded, some with minor to severe damage. Crews also faced line breaks in commercial fire suppression systems that triggered alarms and flow sensors. Several structure fires also came out and were the result of those trying to stay warm inside.
For us at RCE Media, it has been hard to pinpoint the exact number of incidents that the Tyler Fire Department has responded to but, between the hours of 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM on February 16th, we counted 33 incidents mainly being related to broken water lines, with a motor vehicle accident, several commercial fire alarms and a structure fire. If you are any sort of math wiz then you might see that in an hour and a half, TFD responded to a new incident every 3 minutes, and things were at a similar pace for most of the day.
The Tyler Police Department and UT Health EMS have been just as busy responding to incidents across the city as well. If you see any emergency vehicle out on the road with their lights on, it is important that you still pull over and give them plenty of room so that they can safely pass. Response times are slower than usual due to road conditions and the high incident load.
