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U.S. 24 closed overnight after fatal accident
Updated: Friday, 22 Feb 2013, 11:47 AM EST
Published : Tuesday, 05 Feb 2013, 8:57 AM EST
PAULDING COUNTY, Ohio (WANE) - U.S. 24 in Paulding County is now open between U.S. 127 and State Road 49 following Tuesday morning's deadly pileup.
Police sent out a news release saying the road had reopened just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
At one time, officials had said they didn't expect U.S. 24 to reopen until at least midnight on Thursday and potentially not until 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.
The delay was due to equipment breaking down and the discovery of more hazardous materials that needed to be cleaned up.
"They're digging up the median trying to pick up as much of the substance that would have soaked into the ground so they can make sure everything is out of there so there's no adverse effect to the environment or anyone who comes in contact with it," Lt. Les Brode with the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. "It's a long, tedious process to make sure we get everything out of the ground."
A series of crashes started around 8 a.m. Tuesday on U.S. 24 near County Road 87.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the accidents began when a northbound SUV on County Road 87 failed to yield at the U.S. 24 intersection. The vehicle was struck by a tanker truck on U.S. 24 carrying ethanol fuel.
The Paulding County Coroner pronounced Ashley Messmann, 28, Paulding, dead at the scene. Messmann was driving the SUV.
The tanker ruptured and approximately 1,500 gallons of fuel leaked into the median, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Dense fog canvassed the area, reducing visibility throughout a large portion of the area Tuesday morning.
"At the time of the crash, I believe the visibility was right at about 100 feet," said Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Leslie Brode. "The road conditions were clear. The roads don't appear to be any factor in the crash at all."
The accident between the truck and SUV caused a series of seven additional crashes as other drivers attempted to avoid the initial collision. OHSP said a total of 11 commercial vehicles, two passenger cars, and a pickup hauling excavating equipment were involved.
Nine other people involved in the additional crashes were transported to various hospitals for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.
Paulding County Sheriff Jason Landers said the fog continued to be a problem until about 9 a.m. Tuesday. He said he and his officers could only go about 45 miles-per-hour when they responded to the crash.
"[The fog] makes responding to these things difficult to try to be safe, so you can get here and help people," Landers said.
Landers said when he was told about the crash, he expected more to happen because of the fog.
One driver heard those chain reaction crashes happen.
"I had the window down and I could hear vehicles crunch into each other," David Higgins, who was driving from Defiance to Fort Wayne, said.
Higgins said he was able to avoid the crash by driving off the road.
"All of a sudden I saw a tanker cross the road and another truck, and they were only like 100 to 150 feet in front of me," he said. "I hit the brakes, and the anti-lock brakes came one, and the only choice I had was to take it into the ditch."
Fire crews and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were on the scene and contained the ethanol spill caused by the initial crash. Crews quickly determined the spill did not pose a danger to the public but were still determining if there was an environmental impact.
Officials opted to keep U.S. 24 closed overnight to examine the spill area again at daybreak before opening the road back to traffic.
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