A landmark lost

The Apalachicola State Bank building, a downtown landmark for more than a century, erupted in flames early Saturday morning after a seafood delivery truck driver slammed into the front of it.

Preliminary indications are the driver, Joseph Mixon, 43, of Apalachicola, intended to cause the crash.

He was pulled from the wreckage by Tallahassee newspaper delivery man and rushed by ambulance to Weems Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. He was later transported to Bay Medical Center., where he was treated and released Sunday.

Fire crews from around Franklin County finished dousing the flames around 10 a.m. Saturday morning, as a crowd of onlookers assembled at sunrise behind police tape at the intersection of Avenue E and Market Street.

The truck, a 2007 Peterbilt recently acquired by Ward and Sons Seafood Company in Apalachicola, was barreling down U.S. 98 around 4:40 a.m. when it careened into the side of the offices of Coastal Community Bank, the company that now owns Apalachicola State Bank.

A friend of Mixon's, who said they spoke every day, said that during their telephone conversation around 9 p.m. Friday, he was upset over being unable to reach his girlfriend but did not sound violent or out of control.

About 3:30 a.m. Saturday, however, Mixon called his friend's cell phone and left a garbled message including the statement that "What I'm fixing to do, you can let (my girlfriend) know it was all her fault. It's done now."

Varnes said no note or other indications of suicidal intent had been found, as of Saturday afternoon.

Steve Holt, who was out delivering newspapers to newsstands, said he was near the Coombs House Inn, at 80 6^th Street, when he saw the truck speeding down U.S. 98.

"The vehicle passed me going east on 98 at an extremely high rate of speed," he said, estimating that it was "two or three times the posted speed limit.

"I drive with the windows down and I leaned out of car," he said. "It alarmed me because the truck was going so fast. When I leaned out and turned and looked, he had just entered the intersection at the flashing light."

Holt said the truck then veered to the driver's right and "went up on two wheels and then impacted the bank."

After making a U-turn and heading towards the scene, Holt parked across the street and ran over to help. "The front of the vehicle and the side of the bank were burning pretty well," he said. "The driver door was open, and the ground was burning from diesel fuel all over the place."

Holt said Mixon was "mostly out of the vehicle" when he arrived, but that "part of his left leg was caught up in the door of truck and hanging partially out.

"I did what anybody would do. I went over and grabbed the guy, got him out of the truck and dragged him across the street to safety," said Holt.

Certified in CPR from his days in the Army during the Vietnam era, Holt yelled at a passing vehicle to call 911 as he attended to Mixon. "He had a real strong pulse. There were lacerations in his scalp," he said. "He never made a sound, he coughed a little bit lying there and at one point in time he convulsed, so I turned him on his side to make sure his airways was clear."

Gay Nessly, an employee of the BP service station cattycorner to the bank, said she was arriving to open up about 5 a.m. when she heard the accident. "I heard two loud bangs, boom, boom, and I thought it was thunder," she said. "Then I thought it wasn't thunder."

Robert Lindsley, who lives about a block away from the crash site, said he was awake reading when he heard what sounded "like a combination of a collision and an explosion" coming from the street below.

"I'm used to hearing the trucks but this was a different sound,"' he said. "I looked outside and the flames were just starting."

Both Lindsley and Nessly called 911 and Apalachicola First Responders and the volunteer fire department were on the scene in less then three minutes.

Apalachicola Assistant Chief George Watkins said about 15 firefighters from his department took part in the fight, beginning about seven minutes after the 911 call.

Also responding quickly was Franklin County videographer Howard Reeder and his daughter, Andrea, an employee of the bank. She said she was alerted by her scanner and together the two shot footage of Apalachicola firefighters fighting the initial blaze.

To see Reeder's video, click here http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1184417205/bclid1171892348/bctid2337050001

Crews responded from St. George Island, Carrabelle and Eastpoint, bringing with them eight trucks, including two ladder trucks that enabled better access to the flames engulfing the second story. One onlooker said it took roughly an hour for the first ladder truck to arrive, which then enabled the firefighters to direct water downward into the flames.

Watkins said his crews used their two pumpers to shoot water at the flames as they steadily ignited the building and then erupted into roaring flames. "It could have been a lot worse," he said.

            Terry DuBose, chairman of the board of Coastal Community Bank, said the company plans to reopen Monday at a temporary location in Apalachicola a few blocks away. One of 11 Coastal Community Bank locations, the Apalachicola branch employs about two dozen staffers.

            He said the fire affected only office space, and damaged neither the vault nor safety deposit boxes. "They're fine," he said. "It didn't get in that part of the building."

            DuBose, who got word of the blaze on the morning of his 61^st birthday, said an architect has begun assessing plans to rebuild on the site, which Coastal acquired in 2002 when it bought the former Apalachicola State Bank.

            "There's nothing here but a small inconvenience to our employees and our customers," he said. "But if that wind would have got up, it would have taken out a whole city block.

            "We're thankful," he said. "Buildings can be replaced. The Lord takes care of us. We're going to rebuild newer and nicer."