Authorities have identified the driver who was killed in a fiery wreck in Gwinnett County on Tuesday afternoon.
Larrie Willerson, 61, died in the crash, the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday.
She was driving a speeding SUV when it crashed into a pole supporting traffic lights at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Indian Trail Road, Lilburn police Lt. Chris Dusick said. The vehicle caught fire, and the driver was dead when authorities arrived on the scene.
Witness Synthe Fleming was in a nearby building and heard the vehicle crash. She said she saw the driver slumped over the air bag.
“People got out of a bus with two fire extinguishers, but when (the tires) kept exploding, they backed off,” she said. “At that point, there was nothing more to do.”
Witness James Hogan said the fire spread quickly.
“You saw people crying because they wanted to try to go help the guy,” he said. The first officer on the scene told people to get back, he said.
Debris was all across the four-lane highway, Hogan said.
The crash temporarily closed Indian Trail and the southbound lanes of U.S. 29.
—Photographer Ben Gray contributed to this report.
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