Two lifeflighted after Super Bowl Sunday wrecks

The vast majority of Lamar County’s first responders missed most of the Super Bowl Sunday night dealing with two serious wrecks. The first occurred at 7:55 p.m. when a 1996 Buick Century driven by William Yeoman was northbound on Ga. Hwy. 7, ran off the road and collided with the rear of a 1997 Ford Truck with a trailer at Shirley’s Surplus. ********************NOTICE:This story and photo(s) are under copyright. They may not be republished or disseminated in any form or format – including social media – without explicit permission.*********************The Buick careened into the roadway. As two passersby tried to remove Yeoman, his car was struck by a pick-up, knocking it into the median.The truck fled the scene and was the subject of a lookout issued by the state patrol. The driver has now come forward. (See related story below)Yeoman, 68, had a Griffin address on his driver’s license but reports at the scene indicated he currently lives on Pine Street in Barnesville. He was lifeflighted to the trauma center at Navicent in Macon and was in critical condition at press time Monday. If he recovers, he will be charged with DUI and failure to maintain lane.The investigation indicated Shirley’s truck and trailer were legally parked off the right-of-way and he was not cited. Traffic on the four-lane was snarled for over an hour after the crash.Just as things at that scene calmed down, first responders were called to the intersection of Hwy. 41 South and Fredonia Church Road to a second crash. A 2016 Chrysler 200, driven by William Kunkle, 44, of McDonough, was northbound on Fredonia Church and pulled into the path of an eastbound 2004 International tractor-trailer.A passenger in the Chrysler, Roxana Plemons, 42, of Jackson, was removed from the car and taken to an area hospital by ambulance. Her injuries were described as minor.Firefighters and others worked for about 45 minutes to remove Kunkle who was lifeflighted to Navicent. He was in good condition Monday.The truck driver, 57-year-old Gregory Webb of Carrollton, was not injured.At the height of these responses and when manpower and equipment were at a premium, a Community EMS ambulance caught fire. Flames coming from beneath the driver’s seat put the ambulance and its crew out of commission.