CLEAR BROOK, W.Va. — A busy afternoon for first responders Tuesday started with a double fatality near the Frederick County Fairgrounds that stopped traffic on Rt. 11 for some time.
The Frederick County Virginia Sheriff’s Department released details involving the crash:
Two Frederick County residents have perished today after a head- on collision on Martinsburg Pike (Route 11 N.) near the entrance to the Frederick County Fairgrounds. Members of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office’s Traffic Division and personnel from Frederick County Fire & Rescue responded to the 3000 block of Martinsburg Pike, just south of Stonewall Elementary School, at 2:56 pm for the report of a two-vehicle crash with entrapment.
Upon arrival, first responders began extricating both drivers from the badly damaged vehicles and an investigation into the cause of the crash began. One driver was removed from his vehicle and stabilized prior to being transported to Winchester Medical Center where he later succumbed to his injuries and died. After removing the second driver from her vehicle, life saving efforts were not successful and she was pronounced deceased on the scene. The victims have been identified as Sarah Zirkle, 47, of Winchester and Daniel Dickerson, 58, of Clear Brook.
Zirkle was operating a 2018 Honda CR-V southbound on Route 11 when she was struck head-on by Dickerson operating a 2019 Toyota 4- Runner. Evidence gathered at the scene indicated that Dickerson wound up traveling north in the southbound lanes and collided with Zirkle within her lane of travel resulting in heavy front end damage to both vehicles.
“These two deaths bring Frederick County’s total up to 5 people now who have perished in 2024 as a result of traffic crashes,” according to the Sheriff’s Department.
“Sheriff Lenny Millholland remains determined to have his deputies proactively patrolling county roadways in an ongoing effort to make traveling in our area as safe as possible.”
The department extended its condolences to the grieving families.
The crash was one of many that ramped up during an afternoon that saw a pretty steady rain event in many areas of the region that hadn’t seen substantial rain in weeks.
Interstate 81 was backed up in a few places during the afternoon and a number of fender benders on secondary roads kept emergency services busy for several hours, including a crash on Novak Drive around 5 p.m. in which a vehicle crashed into a tree that had fallen across the road where Novak Drive meets Airport Road.
