Vicksburg Fire Department medical personnel transport Jennifer Twiner after the car she was driving slid out of control into a nearby pasture on Fisher Ferry Road Friday. The road was covered in what appeared to be diesel fuel from a morning spill.(The Vicksburg Post/Melanie Duncan)

[11/16/02]Law enforcement agencies in four counties are looking for the driver of a white pick-up truck that spilled what appears to be diesel fuel onto Fisher Ferry Road early Friday morning, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

“We worked five different vehicle accidents that we feel were directly associated with the spill,” Pace said.

Jennifer Twiner, 20, 415 Joyce Lane, was in an accident caused by the spill on Fisher Ferry Road.

“She hit the spill and slid off the road,” Warren County Sheriff’s Deputy Chip Denman said. “There was nothing she could do.”

Twiner was taken to River Region Medical Center where she was treated and released, a hospital spokesman said.

Although law enforcement agencies were on hand to slow traffic on Fisher Ferry Road, four more vehicles also slid off the road due to the slick surface caused by the spillage. No other injuries were reported.

Pace said a white male was seen driving a white long-based pick-up truck pulling a 16-foot utility trailer with one 1,500 gallon tank in the truck bed and two 1,500 gallon tanks on the trailer. What appeared to be diesel fuel spilled from the tanks on about 10 miles of roadway in Warren County.

“He apparently had a leaky valve or the valve was inadvertently left open and the substance spilled onto the roadway,” Pace said.

Pace said the man was headed south on Fisher Ferry Road and has been reported sighted in Claiborne, Hinds and possibly Copiah counties.

“We put out a vehicle description to the other counties in hopes he could be stopped and identified,” Pace said.

Pace said Fisher Ferry Road is safe to travel.

“A sand mixture was put on the road, much like we would do if the road was icy,” Pace said.

Tony Russell, a witness, said he saw the vehicle in question heading into Copiah County Friday morning at the intersection of Hudson Drive and Mississippi Highway 18.

“I saw the valve open but it didn’t dawn on me at the time,” Russell said. “I thought he was just letting the tanks dry out, the tanks looked empty when I saw them.”

Pace said the driver of the truck could be charged for spilling the fuel onto the road.

“The Mississippi code states it is illegal to spill any type of load on the highway,” he said.

Pace said the man could also face civil suits for wrecks that may have been caused by the spill.