Three fatalities occur in 24-hour period

A damaged semi-tractor gets pulled out of the ditch on the east side of U.S. Highway 69 Wednesday afternoon, about seven miles south of Fort Scott. The two tow-trucks were needed to remove the semi-tractor from the steep incline. The semi-tractor was involved in a head-on collision early Wednesday morning which left one dead. (Michael Pommier/Tribune)

Local emergency personnel were busy Tuesday night and Wednesday morning as they responded to three fatal accidents in 24 hours.

"All I can say is its tragic ... all the way around its tragic," Bourbon County Sheriff Ron Gray said in response to working the three accidents along with the Fort Scott Police Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday emergency responders arrived on the scene of a fatal accident seven miles south of Fort Scott on U.S. Highway 69.

According to the KHP, Travis Morrison, 23, from Overland Park, was killed when he crossed the center line into oncoming traffic colliding with a semi-tractor. Both vehicles came to rest in the east-side ditch. The KHP was not able to determine what caused Morrison to cross the center line.

According to local law enforcement Morrison's 2002 Acura was engulfed in flames with Morrison inside. It has not yet been determined if he had been killed before the vehicle caught on fire. Local law enforcement said there was very little of the car remaining intact when they arrived on the scene. Due to the damage cause by the fire the KHP was unable to determine whether or not Morrison was wearing a seat belt.

Local law enforcement said the accident left motor oil and diesel fuel covering the road. U.S. Hwy. 69 was blocked for about eight miles for most of Wednesday as workers from the Kansas Department of Transportation worked to clean up the fuel and oil from the road surface.

Edward Sallee, 44, of Francis, Okla., was driving the semi-tractor -- which was hauling fertilizer urea. He was wearing a seat belt and was not injured in the accident.

At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, emergency responders arrived on the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian. The KHP said Mapleton resident Roger Sickels, 47, was killed while he was attempting to flag down a vehicle on U.S. Hwy. 69 on the south end Fort Scott. KHP reported that Sickels was walking northbound in the southbound lanes when he crossed over into northbound traffic where he was struck by a 1998 Toyota truck driven by Fort Scott resident Brandon Davis, 21. The KHP did not report the reason Sickels was attempting to flag down a vehicle.

Davis and passenger Ryan Austin, 18, of Fort Scott were wearing seat belts and suffered no injuries, according to the KHP.

A third accident Tuesday morning left 82-year-old Fort Scott resident Robert Lyons dead after being struck by an oncoming vehicle on U.S. Hwy. 69 just south of Mercy Health Center.

Kenneth Lee Vandorn, 52, of Pittsburg was driving a 1997 Mercury passenger car southbound in the left hand lane on U.S. Hwy. 69 when Lyons, who was driving a 1991 Nissan pickup truck, pulled out of a local recycling yard and headed east across the highway. Lyons failed to yield and the two vehicles collided, the KHP report said.

Both men were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. According to KHP, Vandorn was not injured during the crash.