I-271 NEAR CLEVELAND, OHIO, WAS SHUT DOWN for more than six hours Monday afternoon following a string of highway crashes including one that involved an Oakwood Fire Department engine. ”This truck is set-up for car accidents, unfortunately it’s not set-up to be the buffer for our car accidents,” said Oakwood Fire Chief Schade.
The entire chain of events started shortly after noon when a minor fender-bender on the Interstate disrupted the traffic flow and led to a second accident, also relatively minor. The Oakwood FD engine was dispatched to the second accident and while they were parked on the scene, a tanker loaded with 8,000 gals. of gasoline came upon the scene too fast and locked up its brakes, causing it to slide against the fire engine.
WJW-TV
The two firefighters that were there heard the truck skidding toward them and were able to leap over the median barrier wall to safety before the collision. The impact tore open the undercarriage piping on the tanker causing it to lose approx. 100 gallons of product onto the highway. Fortunately for everyone, the safety valves held and the leaked gasoline did not ignite.
WJW-TV
Just 20 minutes prior to this chain of events a 5-car crash that ended up with one car burning with the driver trapped inside occurred on the nearby Ohio Turnpike and had that major highway also shut down for over five hours. The combined gridlocks had the entire Cleveland area bogged down for the afternoon.
WJW-TV prepared this video report from the scene:
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Also on FireGeezer…
- Engine Driver Seriously Injured in Pumper Crash – February 16, 2011
- 5 Injured in Buffalo Fire Engine Crash – December 27, 2011
- Firetruck Rollover Injures 3 FF’s – September 7, 2011
- Firetruck Collision in North Carolina – November 4, 2011
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