The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released additional details concerning two accidents which occurred during icy driving conditions, Thursday. Officials say at around 12:25-p.m., a two-vehicle road-condition-related accident occurred on Interstate 80 at the 60 mile marker. A 2002 Toyota owned and driven by 34-year old Lillian Phillips, of Lincoln, NE, was eastbound on I-80 when the vehicle went out of control on the icy bridge and slid across the median just past the bridge, striking a westbound 2001 Peterbilt semi driven by 33-year old Donald Nichols,  of Nebraska.Phillips was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac ambulance. Her 20-month-old son was also transferred to CCMH by Medivac and subsequently transferred to Children’s Hospital in Omaha. Nichols was not injured. Damage from the crash amounted to $18,000.

The second accident happened moments later (12:30-p.m.), on the Marne Road (Highway 83).  Officials say a 1999 Ford Ranger owned and driven by 66-year old Dennis Holtz, of Walnut, was westbound on Marne Road when his vehicle slid off the roadway and went into the south ditch. Holtz was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital via Medivac. Damage to his vehicle is estimated at $5000.

Many Iowans have a four-day weekend coming up with plans to pack up the car and take a road trip to visit far-away family for a Thanksgiving feast. Gail Weinholzer, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, says the single busiest day to be on the road is next Wednesday, as it’ll be one of the most crowded days of the year on our highways and interstates.  “That’s the most heavily traveled day of the Thanksgiving holiday,” Weinholzer says. “We’ll have at least 43.4-million Americans traveling at least 50 miles or more and the majority of those folks, 39-million, will be traveling by personal automobile.”

The predicted number of travelers is down by about 600-thousand from last Thanksgiving, according to the motor club’s survey, and that’s following a year-long trend. “Memorial Day was down 1%, 4th of July was down 1%, Thanksgiving is down 1.5%,” Weinholzer says. “The exception was Labor Day as the only holiday that was actually up and that was up about 4.2%.” While gasoline prices are relatively low in Iowa compared to the rest of the nation, she says the travel forecast is still down, slightly.

“People are just a little concerned about the sluggish economy, it’s not recovering as quickly or as well as they’d hoped,” Weinholzer says. “They’re just backing off a bit of some of their holiday travel plans.” Triple-A says gas prices in Iowa are averaging three-oh-seven a gallon, well below the national average of three-22. Both averages are the cheapest of the year and they’re expected to continue falling for the next several weeks. Davenport has Iowa’s cheapest gas, averaging two-92 a gallon.

(Radio Iowa)

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say three firefighters have suffered minor injuries while putting out a house fire in northwest Iowa.  Sioux County authorities say the fire was reported about 2:05 p.m. Thursday in Orange City.

Investigators suspect the fire was started by a malfunction in a radiant heat system. The blaze was difficult to battle because it was burning in the house attic.  The residents weren’t home. The three firefighters were taken to Orange City Hospital for treatment and then released.