Fatal accident reported in Temple Terrace

Flame retardant foam surrounds the wreckage of an early-morning accident that left the 24-year-old driver of the Cadillac dead after colliding with a semitrailer truck. [CASEY CORA | Times]

TEMPLE TERRACE -- The intersection of E Fowler Avenue and N 56th Street has reopened after a fatal collision between a semitrailer truck and a Cadillac sedan this early this morning.

The crash took place around 4:20 a.m., when the cab of a semitrailer truck heading west on Fowler smashed into a Cadillac sedan that had been headed north on 56th Street, said Temple Terrace Police spokesman Michael Dunn.

"Preliminary reports suggest the Cadillac ran a red light," Dunn said. No charges have been filed.

The driver of the Cadillac, Kenneth R. Wise, 24, 18001 Richmond Place, was killed. The driver of the semi, Lionel Metellus, 38, of Winter Haven, was taken to University Community Hospital with injuries described by Dunn as non-life threatening.

The impact caused the semi to overturn at the northwest corner of the intersection, spilling about 150 gallons of diesel fuel, and rendered the Cadillac virtually unrecognizable. Temple Terrace fire crews continue to sweep up a flame-retardant foam sprayed onto the spilled fuel while emergency crews clean up chunks of debris from the intersection.

Traffic at the intersection remains stalled as the intersection remains partly closed.  Authorities say motorists should avoid the Fowler exit off of Interstate 275.

Casey Cora, Times staff writer