One week after the horrific crash on Highway 400, Kylie Walker is still trying to come to grips with what she saw.
She was driving home to Orillia when she found herself just a few metres in front of the 14-vehicle pileup.
"I witnessed a car's hood completely catch on fire and you could just see the whole car just start burning,” she says. "It was just explosion after explosion. You could hear the bangs and it was so horrifying."
Benjamin Dunn, 37, of North Bay died in the crash. Bill Ford, 74, of Coldwater and 41-year-old John Landry of Innisfil are also believed to have died in the pileup.
Provincial police are still trying to determine what caused the fiery crash. Walker claims she saw a car being driven erratically just moments before it happened.
Police confirm they have spoken with Walker and about 40 other witnesses, but say it's too soon to come to conclusions.
"It still appears that the collision got started when the transport truck slammed into the back of slowing or stopped traffic, but what led up to that is part of the investigation,” says OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.
Walker got out of her car to get a better look at what was happening behind her. She watched; shaken as fuel poured out of two tanker trucks involved in the crash.
“I could feel the heat. I could smell the gasoline. I was like, ‘I’m gonna die.’”
Thankfully, she was unhurt. Walker says she's traumatized by the memories of fire balls bursting up into the sky.
"It's really hard sleeping. I couldn’t eat the last couple of days; I just have this image in my head of the car that had caught on fire. It was like three cars behind me."
Walker says the OPP have helped her get in touch with counselling services.
