ROCKINGHAM COUNTY -- A single patch of ice on Highway 14 in Rockingham County sent four vehicles off the road and claimed the life of a first responder.
Authorities say it happened around 7:30 Wednesday morning between Eden and the Virginia state line.
Two vehicles hit the ice just a few minutes apart, coming to rest in a ditch off the side of the road.
William McKinney, 42, was off duty when he came up on the wreck.
He put on a reflective vest and was heading to help the drivers when a tractor trailer carrying a double load hit the same ice patch.
McKinney died at the scene.
A fourth vehicle ran into the tractor trailer head on. None of the other injuries were life-threatening.
Troopers charged the truck driver 58-year-old Louis Cornelius with misdemeanor death by vehicle.