Editor's View: Scrap

Editor’s Note: The following is a detailed account of a traffic accident that occurred on Monday, July 27, 2026. If you think reading specific details about the accident will trigger you, please use caution before reading.

Monday, July 27 started like most days; the first challenge was getting two kids dressed and out the door on time.

My biggest concerns were the decisions I knew the day would bring.

In the back of my mind, I knew at some point we would be going to the bank and the attorney’s office to sign documents.

Since school let out for the summer, there has been a constant background noise of laughter, squeals, and screams coming from different parts of the building. Our two children have been living their best lives this summer tearing through the office, keeping everyone on their toes until about 2 or 3 p.m. when Granddaddy takes them to the Splash Pad (weather permitting).

When Granddaddy, Granny, Mommy and Daddy all work in the same place (plus a handful of other work associates to pester), it’s a kid’s paradise.

I will forever be thankful that Jason and I made the decision that morning to send the kids to grandma’s house instead of the office.

The day unfolded relatively normally until about noon.

I had to get a few things in order with the newspaper before we could leave to sign documents.

For weeks we have been discussing buying the property that we call our work home at 3 Banner Row in downtown McKenzie, Tennessee.

Jason and I signed documents in 2023 to buy the business, Tri-County Publishing, Inc. dba The McKenzie Banner and TCP Print Shop (TCP), but the buildings were still owned by Joel and Teresa Washburn, my parents, the publisher emeritus and bookkeeper, respectively.

Looking at old maps, I estimate that the buildings at 3 Banner Row are at least 90-100 years old.

There’s so much history within these walls. I feel nostalgic and protective of every downtown historic building, but this one bears the marks on its shelving of when I learned to write and holds the memories of three generations of the Washburn family.

The familiar creak of the wood floors and the smell of newsprint and ink are imprinted on my childhood memories. It’s your newspaper, but it’s felt like home to me for longer than I can remember.

I say all this to say the purchasing of this property feels like a major milestone and a full-circle, homecoming moment.

Monday, around noon, I was in the back of the building sorting news to go on pages in the newspaper, feeling satisfied with my choices, when the lights started flickering repeatedly and then everything went black. I felt around in the dark for my cell phone to use the flashlight.

TCP associate Billy Fuzzell found his first and helped me. I went around checking on employees but was surprised to learn a few were missing. Janna Pratt and my mom were up front.

I asked Mom and she said, “Oh, you don’t know?…”

“Something hit our building and knocked the power out. There was a loud POP,” she relayed, visibly shaken.

“Wh..what?” I felt the color leave my face and my heart rate spike as I ran outside.

TCP associates Jason Martin, Brad Sam and Lyndsey Summers were already outside. I followed the path of their gaze and stared horrified at the scene.

I immediately thought a car had collided with the side of the building and somehow traveled... UP? HOW?!

“Where is the driver — wait, that’s too much rust and there are no pieces of the vehicle — or blood,” I thought.

That realization only made the scene more confusing.

McKenzie Police Department arrived on scene less than a minute after I came outside and, almost simultaneously, several Carroll County Electric trucks and crew as well.

I just stared at the scene for a moment, my mind racing from the adrenaline, “That’s the fiber out of our building. We don’t have internet. This is our lives now. Guess this building is reverting back to the 1900s. We’re definitely missing deadline today. How are we going to publish a newspaper? I can’t go back to hot lead type. How are we ever going to fix this? I don’t even know where to start. Do we have to start over? How much is this going to cost? I’m about to buy this building! Guess that’s canceled for right now. Where’s Dad? Is he ok? He’s still the current owner; he has to give a statement.”

What do you do when the purchase date is the same as your first insurance claim?

I’ve never purchased a commercial property before and this initiation is the worst.

I sent a photo of the scene to a friend who thought it was AI.

“No. This is our building,” I responded.

“On the way,” he replied.

I was still spiraling in my head as the first police officer on scene began to ask questions.

The linemen wanted to know if I had video of the incident. I struggled to control my shaking hands as I fumbled to look for the footage.

“Keep it together,” I thought.

My heart was beating out of my chest.

The officer asked for my driver’s license. I told him that I am the business owner and Joel Washburn is the building owner and went back inside to retrieve the license.

When I returned more officers were on scene.

I handed the officer my license and told him, “I was supposed to become the building owner today. We were about to go to the bank to sign papers.”

At some point during all of this I learned that my dad was not in his office at the time of the accident. He was at the bank signing documents.

I called him and told him, “You have to come back to the office right now. The police need to speak with you.”

“You won’t be able to get in via Banner Row,” I continued.

I don’t remember if I told him that something had hit the building.

One of my employees (Lyndsey, I think) was talking to a bystander that was in Veterans Park when the incident happened.

Luckily for us, he witnessed the entire event and was able to give his account. (Which was later corroborated separately by a second eye witness.)

A semi truck over-packed with scrap metal and mangled vehicles (in an open shipping container) was turning from Cedar Street onto South Main Street (traveling towards the railroad crossing), when a scrap vehicle’s wheel caught the overhead telephone lines and tangled up in them. The resistance from the line pulled the scrap vehicle out of the semi’s storage container, flinging the mangled vehicle against the Banner building’s metal siding.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver briefly stopped after his truck struck the power lines, but then LEFT the scene.

The driver was looking for a place to turn around.

From Cedar Street to Bruce Street, it seemed as though all the emergency vehicles were here. I knew that wasn’t true. No ambulances or fire vehicles that I saw. (Those would come later.)

“So many emergency lights and our building is at the epicenter. So this is what it feels like to be the emergency,” I thought, horrified.

It was oddly the most comforting and protected feeling. We were standing in the middle of a very busy street with (presumably) live wires on the ground; but in the midst of the damage and uncertainty was the knowledge that we would be ok because they’ve got us.

Carroll County Electric restored the power quickly and McKenzie Police officers were there keeping us all safe.

But before anyone could attempt to remove the scrap from the side of the building, THP had to arrive and assess the situation.

It was HOT. A heat warning was in effect for the area and it felt like at least 115 outside.

Standing on the hot pavement with the sun beating down, it started to become clear that even for people used to working in the heat, it was starting to wear on them.

I went back inside to get the cases of bottled water I’d bought two weeks ago to give to heat-weary customers.

Billy helped me and we walked from the Cedar Street intersection to Bruce Street and back, giving out water.

I was trying to conceal my own issues, but I knew my face was blood red. Jason told me so a moment later.

“I know,” I replied.

I didn’t tell him my heart was pounding so bad it was scaring me and that I could feel myself getting closer to losing consciousness.

Ever since I passed out years ago, I can’t tolerate the heat anymore.

I concentrated on climbing the stairs to the office and sat down in the air conditioning. I was having trouble communicating. Billy brought me water and a cool rag. Heart still racing, the symptoms started to subside.

My mother told me not to go back outside.

Billy continued to check on the workers throughout the day, offering them water.

When THP arrived, Carroll County Electric used multiple boom trucks to lift the scrap vehicle off of the building and then drag it across the street.

I went outside to video the process.

The twisted metal of the former automobile etched a reminder into the pavement as CCED laid the scrap to rest on the other side of the street. Fiber optic cables were still horribly twisted around the metal.

THP briefed my dad on the incident and gave him a card with a link to find the report online.

As repairs continued for almost six hours in the sweltering heat on Monday, the number of crew members on scene dwindled to AT&T personnel and McKenzie Police.

The incident pulled down telephone trunk lines and destroyed fiber optic cables, resulting in the area losing AT&T service for hours. Repairing fiber optic cables is a tedious process.

The blackout experienced inside the building was from Carroll County Electric momentarily cutting power to the section to complete repairs.

The incident did not damage electrical lines, but the impact jarred the utility poles so badly that the electrical lines touched and “arced” creating the loud “POP” that was heard.

That may have been what fried an industrial surge protector for one of the production printers, the technician who services our machines advised.

I ended up scrapping the front page plan. What started with mostly good news, became a soon-to-be historic photo and story on the front page. Two stories were bumped from page 1.

Janna and I worked until 10 p.m. to get the newspaper to press.

And what started as making jokes with people online about installing a drive through and saying, “you can’t park there,” lost its luster as the shock wore off and reality set in.

Multiple linemen and officers were quick to notice how lucky we were that the vehicle missed the windows.

If the scrap vehicle had hit the window right next to where it landed, it would have hit my dad’s office. Normally, my dad would be sitting there typing. The only reason he wasn’t was because we were buying the building — he was at the bank.

If it had hit a few feet more to the right, it would have hit my mother and husband.

My two children are normally right next to Granny or Granddaddy playing on their tablets.

I held it together through all the demands of the day, but when Jason shared that revelation with me on Monday at about 11 p.m., I broke down. I hadn’t realized until that moment how close this incident came to being a tragedy.

On Tuesday, multiple emergency crews arrived on scene again. This time it was McKenzie Fire/Rescue and Police.

The emergency was for an AT&T employee who was overcome by the heat.

McKenzie Fire/Rescue medical personnel were quick to arrive and render aid as an ambulance was en route. The employee was transported to Baptist-Carroll County.

“This nightmare just keeps on giving,” I thought.

On Wednesday morning, I noticed an AT&T truck was again in its now-usual spot next to our building.

It was noticeably cooler outside as I went to check on the worker and ask how his co-worker was doing.

He said the employee was discharged and on the way here to work on the lines.

I told him to please come inside if they needed anything.

AT&T was on scene repairing the fiber from Monday, July 27 - Friday, July 31 (For limited time periods on some days).

Thankfully, the remainder of the week passed without incident.

I am eternally grateful for everyone who has reached out to us to see if we are ok. Knowing you care means so much.

Sometimes the hate gets so loud online that we forget about the silent majority who do care.

Thank you for being invested in our wellbeing. We feel the same way about you. We want you to be safe and happy — living to the ripe old age of 125.

To all the personnel on scene this week, I don’t have words. Thank you for existing. Thank you for everything you did for us when we needed you. Thank you for all the times you are there for others, sacrificing so much.

You sacrificed your comfort and risked your lives to help us and we won’t forget it.

Jason and I finally went to the bank and attorney’s office on Tuesday; and, as of July 28, 2026, we officially own the business and buildings we call home in downtown McKenzie.

Still considering printing a sign that reads, “No parking on building… ever.”

Maybe later.

This was definitely a memorable real estate investment.

Thank you for reading.