Seeing Through the Dust Storm

One officer’s response to a crash involving nearly 100 vehicles and zero visibility

Kenneth Reardon had never seen anything like what he pulled up to in early May.

A massive plume of dust had engulfed Interstate 55, just north of Divernon, Illinois, where he serves as the village’s police chief. As he got closer, racing to the scene in his patrol vehicle, a white F-150, Reardon watched as his visibility went to near zero.

Though he couldn’t see much, he knew the crash was different than others. A semi-truck was on fire. Tons of cars and trucks were damaged or couldn’t move because of the pile-up. Ultimately, seven people lost their lives.

Over the next 13 hours, Reardon and dozens of other first responders worked to help bystanders and victims as dust made it nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in front of them. But, one thing gave him confident others could see him as he moved around from vehicle to vehicle helping people; he wore two Guardian Angel lights that cut through the dust.

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