MENTONE, Ala. — Officials have identified a man killed in a fiery truck accident in Mentone last week as a 72-year-old from Georgia.
Mentone Assistant Police Chief Kirby Johnston says the man has been identified as Al Lee Smith of Dalton, Ga. Johnston says Smith suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
Johnston says firefighters were called to an area just off Alabama 117 Wednesday night, to what appeared to be a brush fire. Firefighters discovered a pickup on fire, with the woods around it also on fire.
When the fire was extinguished and the truck was pulled out, a badly burned body was found inside.
Kirby said the truck ran off the road at a pull-off area on Tutwiler Gap, somehow catching fire. He said it’s believed the gas tank exploded.
