HIGHWAY TRAGEDY KILLS 2

Officer John P. Kalaman, 29, a five-year veteran, was killed at the scene. Firefighter Robert J. O'Toole, 26, who was with the department for four years, died at Miami Valley Hospital.

Another firefighter, Charles D. Arnold, 29, was in critical condition at Miami Valley Hospital.

The deaths "put a hole in everybody's hearts," said Richard A. Palmer, spokesman for the Washington Twp. Fire Department.

"This is an enormous community loss," said Centerville Police Chief Stephen Walker. "Every law enforcement agency in the region has called and offered support."

The three were at the scene of a single-car accident, in which a southbound Mercury Capri driven by Stewart D. Havens, 35, of Fairborn slid off I-675 around 6:30 a.m. and came to rest in the median.

Police and fire crews were responding to that accident when a Chevrolet Camaro, driven by Bernadette Barton, 25, of Beavercreek, also slid into the median and hit the Capri, said Lt. Russell Johnson of the Ohio Highway Patrol. The three men were struck during that crash, but investigators late Monday were unsure where they were standing and which vehicle hit them.

"We're looking at everything," said Johnson. "It will take us time."

Minutes after that crash, a southbound Chevrolet Blazer hit a fire truck, but stayed on the road. The driver, Gene P. Johnson Jr., 25, of Fairborn, was in critical condition at Southview Hospital and Family Health Center.

Barton was treated at Southview and released. Her attorney, Jon Paul Rion, said she was shaken by the accident.

"It's just devastating for her to think she was related to something like this," said Rion, who also said he did not expect anyone to be charged.

Icy roads on the overpass crossing Wilmington Pike led Havens to lose control, then caused the same problem for Barton, and for Johnson, Rion said.

"It was clearly an act of nature," Rion said.

Havens, in fair condition at Sycamore Hospital, recalled hearing the fatal crash.

Havens said he was in the far right lane southbound on I-675 when a "light-colored car" tried to cut in front of his car. Havens suddenly braked and skidded over two lanes, rolling onto the highway's median strip.

He said he suffered back and neck injuries. While lying inside an EMS truck, he heard a crash. "I heard one of the paramedics yell, 'Oh my God, they've been hit,'" he said.

The crash was similar to an accident 15 months earlier, when Moraine Police Officer Matthew Sexton, 31, was struck Oct. 9, 1996, while directing traffic around an accident on I-75 and Dryden Road. Hospitalized three months, he is still recovering.

The freezing weather, which led to slick roads, caused a series of auto accidents Monday, including the fatal one on I-675, authorities said. The temperature during the fatal crash was about 32 degrees with sleet and rain.

Rain and flurries are possible today and Wednesday, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Mark Tobin. Highs both days should reach the low 30s. Lows should range from the mid-teens to low 20s.

The accidents left police officers and firefighters reeling. Both Walker and Washington Twp. Fire Chief Ken Parks said the two departments are close knit and work well together.

"I don't think they'll ever be able to deal with it totally," Parks said.

"All police and fire departments throughout the area will be feeling this," said Palmer, the Washington Twp. Fire Department spokesman.

Palmer said it was the first time in 42 years that a Washington Twp. firefighter was killed in the line of duty. The last time was Nov. 15, 1955, when Robert M. Hedges, 28, a dentist and volunteer firefighter, was electrocuted as he walked into a high-tension wire after a violent storm.

For close to nine hours Monday, all six lanes of I-675 were diverted to the Wilmington Pike exits and back onto the on-ramps, causing miles of back-ups.

Nearly a dozen police and Ohio Highway Patrol cruisers and a trio of tow trucks surrounded the crash scene while a patrol helicopter with an aerial photographer circled above.

By afternoon, flags were flying at half-staff under gray, misty skies at the township's fire stations and government center.

Black bands were placed on police and fire badges. Walker said he did not know how long officers would wear them, because Kalaman, a Kettering native, was the first Centerville officer to die in the line of duty.

Kalaman, whose parents still live in Kettering, was single and had been with the police department for five years. Walker said Kalaman had not been initially dispatched to the call, but had offered to take it for another officer about to end his shift.

Officer Steve Maynard said Kalaman was "a darned good police officer. You'd be glad to see him when he came to back you up."

O'Toole was married without children, Palmer said, as is Arnold. Both were on-call firefighters and emergency medical technicians, were paid for their work but considered volunteers, he said.

Arnold also serves as a firefighter/EMT for Miami Twp. and Trotwood, Palmer said.

O'Toole, who also served as a volunteer firefighter for Clearcreek Twp., was studying at Sinclair Community College to become certified as a paramedic. His parents were coming from Minneapolis to make funeral arrangements.

Kalaman will receive a full police funeral on Friday. Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Tobias Funeral Home, 5471 Far Hills Ave. There will be a prayer service 9:15 a.m. Friday at Tobias; the funeral will be at 10 a.m. at the Church of the Incarnation, 55 Williamsburg Lane. Burial will be at David's Cemetery at Far Hills and David Road.

At its regular meeting Monday, Washington Twp. trustees agreed to donate burial plots for Kalaman and O'Toole in Centerville Cemetery on Maple Avenue.

Montgomery County sheriff's deputies volunteered to patrol Centerville during Kalaman's funeral, freeing Centerville's 38-member police force.

Similarly, members of neighboring fire departments, including Kettering's agreed to fill in for Washington Twp.'s 170-member department during services for Arnold.

Palmer, who said he arrived at the scene just after the third accident, described the overpass surface as "very icy, very slick." Yet, he observed, "people were driving much too fast for the conditions.

"We're in such a fast-paced society today, but when it's icy, people need to drive like it's icy."

MARVIN FONG DAYTON DAILY NEWS

(2) Police officer: John P. Kalaman

(3) Firefighter: Robert J. O'Toole

(4) Firefighter: Charles D. Arnold

Kalaman died at the scene. O'Toole died later at Miami Valley Hospital.

Arnold remains in critical condition at the hospital.

(5) A press conference was held at Centerville City Hall for the Centerville police and the Washington Twp. Fire Department personnel.

WALLY NELSON/DAYTON DAILY NEWS

MAP: I-675

Site of fatal accident

DAYTON DAILY NEWS

* CONTACT Lou Grieco at 225-2057 or e-mail him at lou_grieco@coxohio.com. Contact Janice Morse at 225-2220 or e-mail her at janice_morse@coxohio.com. Staff writer Marcus Franklin contributed to this report.