Eye on the Tropics

Hurricane Irma: Palm Beach County deputy, corrections sergeant die in head-on crash during storm

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy and Florida Department of Corrections sergeant were killed when their vehicles crashed head-on while working in the Hurricane Irma evacuation zone, officials said.

Deputy Julie Bridges was picking up supplies for a hurricane shelter when her patrol car crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by FDOT Sgt. Joseph Ossman, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.

The pair had been required to stay behind in Palm Beach County despite a mandatory evacuation order, the Sheriff's Office said in the post.

Ossman was reporting for his shift at Hardee Correctional Institution, which remained open despite the evacuation, officials said.

He had worked with the Florida Department of Corrections for 21 years.

No other details were immediately released on a possible cause of the crash.