Gretna crash deadly; snow unknown factor

A Pittsylvania County man died in a single-vehicle accident Sunday evening in Gretna.

Curtis W. Birchfield Jr., 52, of 1300 Watlington Road in Gretna, was killed after his 1989 Dodge Dakota pickup truck ran off the right side of Va. 640 in Gretna, struck an embankment and overturned, ejecting him, said Virginia State Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Robert Carpentieri.

Birchfield was not wearing a seat belt during the crash that occurred at 5:39 p.m. Sunday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

It is unclear if the wintry weather was a factor in the accident, Carpentieri said. The incident is under investigation, he said.

Virginia State Police received about 60 calls in Pittsylvania County as a result of the weather from Sunday evening to early Monday, said Sgt. C. W. Owen. Most of them involved vehicles that run off the road into a ditch and getting stuck, Owen said.

Police answered at least 30 of the calls. Many incidents resulted in duplicate calls while others were taken care of by motorists or fire departments before police arrived, he said.

The snowy conditions and the number of incidents taxed police manpower, Owen said.

“It strains the troopers,” he said, adding that police could have used three times the force’s size during the inclement weather.

By 10:30 a.m. Monday, roads were clear and crews were working on secondary routes in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Lynchburg District, which includes Pittsylvania County, said VDOT spokeswoman Paula Jones.

Conditions were improving with warmer temperatures and sunshine, but residual moisture was expected to freeze overnight Monday and early Tuesday, causing slick roads, Jones said.

Warm weather ahead

» Danville area residents can expect a return to warm temperatures this week after Sunday’s winter weather.

» The city had an inch and a half of snow as a result of the storm but a warming trend is on its way back to the city, said WSLS10 meteorologist Patrick McKee. Winds will shift warm weather south, with highs reaching near 50 Tuesday. Temperatures will be in the upper 50s Wednesday and the 60s Thursday and Friday, McKee said Monday.