Truck-car accident partially closes I-70 Friday night | SummitDaily.com
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Truck-car accident partially closes I-70 Friday night

SUMMIT DAILY STAFF REPORT
Special to the Daily/Jeff BerinoA semi-tractor burned along Interstate-70 Friday evening after it is believed that the truck struck a passenger car carrying a mother and her two small children. The highway was partially shut down for 90 minutes while emergency crews cleared the area.
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A mother and her two young children escaped serious injury Friday night when the vehicle the family was traveling in was struck by a semi-tractor trailer.

“Seatbelts and the proper use of child seats definitely saved some lives tonight,” Lake Dillon Fire District Deputy Chief Jeff Berino said.

At approximately 7:30 p.m. fire units were dispatched to a call of a “fully engulfed” semi trailer at westbound Interstate-70 mile marker 205. While enroute, multiple 911 calls were received concerning injuries and a second vehicle fire at mile marker 206.



Upon arriving on the scene of the truck fire, the fire department personnel split into two units with one leaving the original scene to attend to the car fire. The front cab and the front set of duel wheels of the truck were fully involved when emergency personnel arrived. The driver of the vehicle was out of the cab and unhurt.

The two incidents were spread out over a half-mile of the Interstate during an influx of incoming skier traffic. The passenger vehicle that the truck is believed to have struck was greatly damaged, the deputy chief said.



Witnesses at the scene of the accident reported that the semi was believed to be traveling at a high rate of speed, Berino said.

In addition to the two accident scenes, emergency responders contained a diesel fuel spill of approximately 50 gallons. The fuel was believed to have escaped from a “saddle tank” that was dislodged from the truck as a result of the accident. Fire crews contained the fuel with handmade dams and dikes.

Passengers in both vehicles received only minor injuries and were released at the scene.

“People in the car, they were incredibly lucky. I don’t know how they got out alive,” added the deputy chief.

Ten firemen, two Summit County Ambulance personnel and multiple Colorado State Patrolmen responded to the accident scenes.

Several lanes of the Interstate were shut down for safety reasons for approximately 90 minutes. The weather was 18 and clear at the time of the accident.


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