Fiery tractor-trailer crash shuts down Bluegrass Parkway in Hardin County

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Kentucky State Police are investigating a fiery crash Monday night involving two tractor-trailers on the Bluegrass Parkway in Hardin County.

Troopers with Kentucky State Police Post 4 responded to the crash around 9:26 p.m. near the 7 mile marker.

According to a preliminary investigation, two commercial vehicles were traveling eastbound when one of the drivers, Manual Ostos Paxtian, 41, of Moss, Tennessee, attempted to make an illegal U-turn using an emergency turnaround in an effort to head westbound.

Police said a second eastbound tractor-trailer, driven by Charles Penn, 67, of Union Springs, Alabama, tried to avoid the first truck but was unable to, striking it.

Investigators said one of the tractor-trailers caught fire and was completely destroyed. The second truck overturned into the westbound lanes.

Paxtian suffered minor injuries and was taken to Baptist Health Hardin for treatment. Penn was not injured.

Both eastbound and westbound lanes of the Bluegrass Parkway remained closed overnight as crews work to remove the trucks and clean up the roadway. The roadways reopened around 6:30 a.m.

The crash remains under investigation.

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