As briefly mentioned in our previous post, an hour after the Ohio Turnpike truck accident on Monday another truck accident occurred on I-271. The crash occurred around 12:54 p.m. when two cars collided on I-271 in Oakwood just north of the Alexander Road overpass.
As firefighters were attempting to clear the two vehicles involved out of the wreckage, an 18-wheel tanker truck skidded nearly 270 feet and slammed into the fire truck on the side of the road. The collision caused the tanker truck to spill nearly 200 gallons of gasoline across the northbound lanes of I-271. This accident forced emergency crews to close two miles on the highway for about six hours.
No firefighters were injured in the crash and no fatalities occurred. A small number of people were taken to area hospitals as a precaution.
The northbound lanes of traffic between the Macedonia Road near Ohio 8 to Forbes Road were reopened at 7 p.m. the same day after a hazardous waste team cleaned up the gas spill. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also supervised the clean up with authorities.
According to reports, traffic was backed up for nearly 10-miles following the crash, all the way to Ohio 303 and Ohio 82.
Another accident on I-71 also stalled traffic when a motorcycle lost control near West 65th Street and struck another vehicle. Clifford Thompson, of Cleveland, died from massive head injuries in the accident, despite wearing a helmet in the accident. The highway was shut down for 2 hours following this crash.
Source: Cleveland.com “Truck accidents on I-271 and I-80 cause major jams, kill a Maryland mother” 08/17/2010