The radio tower on Ky. 90 they use to communicate with each other was down for scheduled construction to nearly double the length of the tower when the fatal multiple-vehicle collision happened on Interstate 65.

911 dispatcher Beverly Harbison went back to the old-fashioned way of communicating - via telephone - to dispatch South Barren, Cave City and Park City volunteer fire departments to the wreck scene. She said it was only a minor setback.

"Any traffic we were doing had to be done on land line," she said. "It may have taken a few more seconds."

Around 11:30 a.m., Harbison called Haywood and Hiseville volunteer fire departments on their non-emergency telephone lines to dispatch firefighters.

All of the volunteer fire departments can transmit messages among themselves, but only Haywood and Hiseville VFDs are capable of dispatching other departments.

A few firefighters were at each of the two fire department stations calling other firefighters.

Timing was crucial, and these firefighters were just on time.

By the time South Barren VFD arrived, Smiths Grove VFD was running out of water to extinguish the blaze which happened when a tanker truck didn't slow down for a construction zone and rear-ended other vehicles. The driver and a passenger in the tanker truck died in the wreck. Several others received minor injuries.

In the six years the Glasgow 911 Center has been in operation, Harbison said she didn't remember a time when they dispatched fire or ambulance personnel via telephone.

It was good practice, however, because that's the procedure they are supposed to follow during an emergency if the radio frequencies go out, such as a tornado, she said.

The tower was supposed to be out of service for about three hours while Motorola increased it from 180 feet to 300 feet. It took a little longer than expected, and construction wasn't completed until around 2 p.m.

South Barren and Park City remained at the wreck scene about three hours, and Cave City was there about two hours.

The Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service also pitched in to help with the devastation.

Paramedic Jason Blakley and EMT Tim Jessie were transferring a patient to Mediplex Rehabilitation Center in Bowling Green when they came upon the wreck.

"The first thing I saw was a lot of smoke," Jessie said. "It was scary there a few times. It was bad."

Jessie and Blakley also saw flames engulfing the tanker truck; furniture, clothing and toys strewn all over the interstate; and a young man and his daughter running from the fire that spread to their pick-up and the U-haul trailer it was pulling.

The two ambulance employees administered first aid to Jason McCrimmon, 27, of Louisiana, and his four-year-old daughter Allison McCrimmon.

Jason McCrimmon's face was cut, and the fire had singed the hair on his head and legs. He also complained of pain in his left arm.

The two men applied sterile dressing and bandages to Allison McCrimmon, who suffered second-degree burns on her nose, arms and shoulders.

An ambulance from The Medical Center at Bowling Green met them, Jessie said, and transferred the father and daughter to the hospital.