Ontario County Sheriff Phil Povera's Press Conference
Fairport Tragedy Complete Coverage
(Fairport, N.Y.) - Five young lives were lost, and the loss is being felt far beyond their hometown of Fairport.
Sandi Heacock heard the explosion and ran outside.
“The flames were just flying up and the friends of the girls were in our neighbor’s yard just screaming, really upset, that was the most heart-wrenching thing I've ever experienced," she said.
The girls' four friends were traveling in a car right behind the SUV, all were headed to Keuka Lake.
Bailey Goodman was driving the SUV. Investigators say she passed another car in a legal passing zone. Then she overcorrected and slammed head-on into the tractor trailer.
The flames resulting reached at least 50 feet and singed electrical lines, burning through cable, TV, and phone lines.
The truck driver escaped without injury. He and others tried to help, but there was nothing anyone could do.
Haecock said, “I heard the girls yelling, 'They can't get out. They can't get out!'”
Ontario County Sheriff Phil Povero said, “This was...a horrific accident rivaling very few that we have seen in our years here at the…sheriff's office."
The sheriff said it does not appear drugs or alcohol were involved.
He could not say whether any party was speeding.
Neighbors said the truck driver also tried to help the girls in the second car, to comfort them, as did many others on the scene Tuesday night.
