2 dead, 1 injured as fiery tanker truck crash closes Pa. Turnpike I-476 in Montgomery County; highway reopens hours later
A section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension in Montgomery County was closed for hours Saturday after a crash led to a massive tanker truck fire that left two people dead and 1 person injured.
The northbound lanes of Interstate 476 reopened around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and the southbound lanes reopened around 6 p.m. The highway had been closed between Mid-County Exit 20 and Lansdale Exit 31.
The crash occurred just before 10:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes of Interstate 476 around mile marker 26 in Worcester Township.
A vehicle with a flat tire came to a stop in the right lane of the highway and another vehicle behind it stopped and the driver activated hazard lights. The truck was unable to stop and struck both vehicles, and all three became engulfed in flames, police said.
The truck driver and the driver of the first vehicle struck were killed, while the other driver sustained minor injuries, state police spokesperson Myles Snyder told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Photos and video shared to social media, including one by passing driver Hector Lucena, showed large flames engulfing a tanker truck with the words “Jet Fuel” on it, off to the side of the northbound lanes. The tanker appeared to have crashed into a car.
Just before the tanker, the highway was covered with debris.
As of 2 p.m., the fire appeared to have been extinguished, aerial video taken by CBS Philadelphia showed.
Turnpike employees worked throughout the morning and afternoon to direct traffic stuck on the highway to the emergency access gates. Eventually crews removed a section of the concrete median, allowing vehicles stuck on I-476 north to turn around.
At around 3 p.m., the Turnpike in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said that all vehicles in the traffic queue had been U-turned
All trapped queue has been U-Turned. If you are still in the closed section of I-476 North / South between Mid-County Exit #20 & Lansdale Exit # 31 – Call *11 (Star 11) and tell the dispatcher your milepost location so we can get you U-Turned. pic.twitter.com/NRt7LOnYhz
— PA Turnpike Alerts (@PATurnpikeAlert) October 21, 2023
Earlier, Turnpike officials warned that clearing the highway of traffic would be a “slow process.” Northbound traffic could not proceed — and thus had to be turned around — due to damage to the highway and a bridge that “needs inspected to make sure it is safe for vehicle travel.”
Due to the nature of the hazmat incident, authorities had earlier requested that drivers who were stuck on the highway near the fire remain in their vehicles.
Crews are u-turning vehicles to gate at mile 23. This is a slow process. Unfortunately traffic can not be released north due to fire keeps reigniting & also damage to roadway/bridge that needs inspected to make sure it is safe for vehicle travel. Crews are now en-route with…
— PA Turnpike Alerts (@PATurnpikeAlert) October 21, 2023
CBS Philadelphia reported that residents were briefly evacuated from homes on two nearby roads.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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