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MOUNT COMFORT, Ind. (WISH) — Grab the tent and sleeping bags!

Campgrounds in most of Indiana can reopen Friday instead of Sunday under Stage 3 of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s revised Back on Track plan, the state’s reopening guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. Indiana state park inns as well as private campgrounds are included in the Stage 3 reopenings.

The pandemic forced the Vaughan family to close its Indianapolis KOA campground west of Greenfield for the last two months.

“It’s been very hard, very long, very drawn out,” said Rachel Vaughan, the campgrounds operations manager on Thursday.

“Exctatic!” Vaughan said and smiled. “We were shocked! We are so excited!”

The state said campgrounds may open with social distancing limits and sanitation precautions, but KOA Indianapolis will take zero chance and go above state mandates.

“We will be wiping down the counters and any surfaces that anyone would be touching,” said Lori Vaughan, one of the owners of KOA Indianapolis, as she sanitized a countertop.

Rachel Vaughan said she has trained 22 staffers on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to help keep guests safe from COVID-19.

“So, what they have been trained to do is clean up after any surface is touched. That area will be cleaned, disinfected with a disinfectant that will kill any type of virus,” Vaughan explained.

She said the campground is about 95% booked through this weekend.

All recreational areas will be highly monitored. Curbside check-in will be offered. About 90% of reservations at the campground are fully contained, which means they have their own bathrooms, showers and kitchens.

As far as precautions, everyone will be escorted to their sites. Everyone has already been sent an email about the guidelines and rules, which will be enforced by the 22 staff members, Vaughan says.

There will also be capacity limits.

“Our rec area is going to be at 50% capacity. Each surface is going to be disinfected between guests. We have someone to do that between every single time. The pool will be monitored by a person,” Vaughan said.

She said there is an appetite for camping right now. “People are so ready to get outside, spend time with their family, get out of their homes.”

Coronavirus links

Indiana coronavirus timeline

With information from the Indiana Department of Health through March 4, 2021, this timeline reflects updated tallies of deaths and positive tests prior to that date.

MOUNT COMFORT, Ind. (WISH) — A semitractor-tanker driver died in a crash Wednesday morning on Interstate 70 near the Mount Comfort exit in western Hancock County, police said.

Investigators were working to identify the driver, who died after the crash at a undisclosed hospital, Indiana State Police said in a news release.

Just before 9 a.m., emergency crews were called to the crash at the 95.8-mile marker under the Mount Comfort Road overpass. A semitractor-tanker had struck a concrete support of the overpass with the tanker rupturing and spilling thousands of gallons of oil onto the interstate, police said. The driver was ejected from the cab and found in grass ahead of the crash scene.

A preliminary investigation showed a tire failure caused the vehicle to run off the road, go through a guardrail and strike the overpass support, police said.

I-70 was closed in both directions for more than three hours while hazardous-material crews cleaned up the oil spill, but authorities advised motorists to be cautious in the area because of the large spill.

One lane of I-70 remained closed in both directions shortly before 2 p.m.