CRS Responds to Interstate 81

On New Years Day, Washington County E.C.C. dispatched Fire & EMS units to respond for a single vehicle accident on Interstate 81 south of Exit 9 around 17:30 that evening. An on duty officer from MSP investigating debris in the median found a vehicle that had left the roadway rolling down a steep embankment.  The vehicle came to rest on it’s roof on the railroad tracks below the interstate.

Emergency crews from Maugansville, Halfway and Community Rescue Service were dispatched to respond to the vehicle roll-over with entrapment per MSP’s report. Once on the scene, Maugansville confirmed dispatch and Sergeant Thomas Garrett assumed Interstate 81 Command. Once crews were able to make access to the vehicle, the driver was confirmed to be Priority 4 and crews downgraded from a rescue to a recovery operation.

Fire and EMS worked for over an hour to assist MSP with recovery operations. Once operations were complete, crews from Halfway and CRS were released by command while Company 13 units remained on the scene until all hazards had been removed.

The exact cause of the accident is currently unknown.  MSP is conducting an investigation into what happen and when the accident occurred.  It currently appears that the accident happened earlier in the day and was never noticed until evening.