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Out of Control Hearse
May 16, 2007
Runaway hearse visits radio station
By Tom Smith
Senior Staff Writer
SHEFFIELD -- Jerry Knight said he had never had anything like that happened before in his life.
"I thought they were coming to get me,'' said Knight, sales manager at WBTG-Radio, on Gospel Lane, Sheffield.
About 10 a.m. Tuesday, a hearse parked at the Church of God of Prophecy for a funeral apparently jumped out of gear and rolled down the hillside straight into the back of the radio station's production room.
Knight was in the production room with program director Dan Michael working on a commercial.
"You talk about frightening, that was frightening. (The hearse) didn't come into the building, but it hit hard enough that a few of the concrete blocks were knocked into the building,'' Knight said. "And with no windows in the room, we had no idea what was happening until we got outside and saw that hearse stuck in the side of the building.''
Station owner Paul Slatton said it took about two hours for the station to be repaired. "But we never went off the air,'' he said.
Slatton said the vehicle, a Lincoln Town Car, came right by the station tower and a guide wire that secured the tower.
"That was what was so amazing. It came straight down the hill into the building,'' said Knight.
"It could have been a lot worse,'' Slatton said.
He said the hearse hit the building with such force that it shook everything, knocking some items off walls.
Gilbert Prince, of Spry Memorial Chapel, Russellville, said he doesn't know what happened with the hearse.
"It was just a freakish thing. The hearse had been parked and then someone said, 'where's the hearse?' We looked around and it was gone,'' Prince said. "It was at the bottom of the hill."
Prince said the incident did not disrupt the funeral.
The vehicle was damaged enough that another hearse had to be called and used for the procession to the cemetery.
"(The incident) didn't cause the family any unwarranted anguish,'' Prince said.
Knight said Tuesday's incident is one he won't soon forget.
"Of course, one of the first things you do is react, and we did,'' he said. "It was probably the quickest I've moved in many years.''
Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.
Copyright © 2007 TimesDaily
Runaway hearse visits radio station
By Tom Smith
Senior Staff Writer
SHEFFIELD -- Jerry Knight said he had never had anything like that happened before in his life.
"I thought they were coming to get me,'' said Knight, sales manager at WBTG-Radio, on Gospel Lane, Sheffield.
About 10 a.m. Tuesday, a hearse parked at the Church of God of Prophecy for a funeral apparently jumped out of gear and rolled down the hillside straight into the back of the radio station's production room.
Knight was in the production room with program director Dan Michael working on a commercial.
"You talk about frightening, that was frightening. (The hearse) didn't come into the building, but it hit hard enough that a few of the concrete blocks were knocked into the building,'' Knight said. "And with no windows in the room, we had no idea what was happening until we got outside and saw that hearse stuck in the side of the building.''
Station owner Paul Slatton said it took about two hours for the station to be repaired. "But we never went off the air,'' he said.
Slatton said the vehicle, a Lincoln Town Car, came right by the station tower and a guide wire that secured the tower.
"That was what was so amazing. It came straight down the hill into the building,'' said Knight.
"It could have been a lot worse,'' Slatton said.
He said the hearse hit the building with such force that it shook everything, knocking some items off walls.
Gilbert Prince, of Spry Memorial Chapel, Russellville, said he doesn't know what happened with the hearse.
"It was just a freakish thing. The hearse had been parked and then someone said, 'where's the hearse?' We looked around and it was gone,'' Prince said. "It was at the bottom of the hill."
Prince said the incident did not disrupt the funeral.
The vehicle was damaged enough that another hearse had to be called and used for the procession to the cemetery.
"(The incident) didn't cause the family any unwarranted anguish,'' Prince said.
Knight said Tuesday's incident is one he won't soon forget.
"Of course, one of the first things you do is react, and we did,'' he said. "It was probably the quickest I've moved in many years.''
Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.
Copyright © 2007 TimesDaily
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