GRAND JUNCTION - A firey three-truck crash in Greene County claimed the life of a Callender man Thursday.

Robert Pierce, 22, was pronounced dead at the scene after the straight truck he was driving collided head-on with a semitrailer driven by William E. Crookshank, 47, of Randolph, Minn. The crash occurred around 8:45 a.m. on U.S. Highway 30 about a mile east of Grand Junction.

Crookshank also died in the accident.

Pierce was a student at Prairie Valley High School at one time. It was reported that he was driving a truck for the West Central Co-op.

A representative from West Central Co-op in Gowrie declined to comment.

Randal Walker, of Nevada, was driving a semi loaded with steel west on Highway 30 and was slowing to turn left when he saw Crookshank's truck coming up behind his, according to an Iowa State Patrol crash report. Walker's truck was rear-ended by Crookshank's semitrailer before it swerved into the eastbound lane and collided with Pierce's truck head-on.

Pierce's truck was carrying ammonium phosphate fertilizer. Crookshank was hauling bean meal, according to Capt. Steve Hergenreter of the Fort Dodge Fire Department Haz-Mat Team.

Hergenreter said the Haz-Mat team was called to the scene because there were hazardous materials involved. The collision started a fire that burned two of the trucks' diesel fuel and tanks.

"We got on the scene right around 11 a.m.," he said. "When we got there they had the fire extinguished. Both trucks were completely burned up in the fire."

Walker apparently wasn't injured in the crash, according to the highway patrol report.

Walker's semitrailer had only minor damage on the rear wheel from the accident, Hergenreter said.

Highway 30 was closed for most of the day following the crash.

Contact Angela Burch at (515) 573-2141 or aburch@messengernews.net