Standing amid the carnage of the nine-vehicle crash that killed six people on I-75 Thursday night, James Gillis smelled the gas and thick black smoke, heard the airbags popping as they burned and the poof that the seats made when the flames licked through the fabric.
Then he saw the dead woman, lying on her right side, eyes wide open.
“It was horrific,” Gillis said. “That lady’s blue eyes looking at me like that. She was so white.”
Six people, including two children, died in the wreck, which happened around 7:10 p.m. Thursday just north of Exit 11 on Interstate 75 northbound.
18 PEOPLE INVOLVED IN I-75 WRECK
KILLEDTiffany Watts, 31, from Tennessee, in 2010 Toyota ScionSandra Anderson, 50, from Tennessee, in 2010 Toyota ScionUnidentified child, 8, from California, in 2010 Toyota ScionUnidentified child, 10 or 11, from California, in 2010 Toyota ScionBrian Gallaher, 37, from Tennessee, in 2010 Toyota PriusJason Ramos, 36, from Georgia/Ohio, in 2003 Mazda SWINJUREDMarty Tumbleson, 30, from Tennessee, in 2005 Savana VanCharles Allen Daniels, Jr., 41, from Tennessee, in 2005 Savana VanJohn Stanley, 57, from Mississippi, in 2007 Chevy Uplander MinivanNancy Stanley, 55, from Mississippi, in 2007 Chevy Uplander MinivanRyan Humphries, 24, from Tennessee, in 2001 Ford F150Justin Lnox, 60, from Mississippi, in 2015 Cadillac CTSNOT INJUREDBenjamin Scott Brewer, 39, from Kentucky – driver of the semi-truckCharity Dawn Pennington, 38, from Kentucky, passenger in the semi-truckTravis Close, 40, from Tennessee, in 2015 Toyota TundraTina Close, 39, from Tennessee, in 2015 Toyota TundraUnidentified child, 2, from Tennessee, in 2015 Toyota TundraUnidentified child, 6, from Tennessee in 2015, Toyota TundraSource: Chattanooga Police Department