Multiple people lost their lives Thursday morning in a major pileup crash involving several semi trucks on I-95 in Florida.
The crash occurred around 1:30 a.m. during foggy/smoky conditions on I-95 in Edgewater, Florida.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, approximately 17 vehicles, including several semi trucks, were involved in crashes on both directions of I-95 near mile marker 244.
*** MAJOR TRAFFIC ALERT – SHUTDOWN ***
Multiple vehicles/Multiple fatalities – #Brevard/#Volusia
– NB I-95 shutdown at 231MM (SR-5a Mims)
– SB I-95 shutdown at SR-44 (Volusia)
– THIS WILL BE CLOSED FOR HOURS POSSIBLY INTO THE AFTERNOON pic.twitter.com/rJzw50icdb— “Trooper Steve” Montiero (@TrooperSteve_) March 3, 2022
Four separate crashes involving 11 vehicles occurred on northbound I-95, resulting in the death of one person.
One crash occurred on southbound I-95 involving six vehicles, resulting in the death of two people.
DEADLY CRASH: This is FDOT video of that 15 car pile-up involving several semi-trucks that killed 3 people and has I-95 in Volusia County, shutdown this morning.
This is near Edgewater in #Florida. We’re following this #Breaking #crash all morning on @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/raW8bY5DWr
— Chandler Morgan (@Chandler_TV) March 3, 2022
Multiple people, including at least one child, were injured.
The Florida Highway Patrol says that “zero visibility” conditions caused by fog and smoke from a controlled burn were major contributing factors in the fatal crashes, according to WESH. The outlet reports that state police were not notified of a controlled burn and were not on scene to monitor traffic.
Volusia County was under a dense fog warning through the Thursday morning rush hour.
Volusia County Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood tweeted that “Traffic is shut down from MM 249 (SR-44) to MM 231 (SR-5A) and will be for some time. Please avoid these areas.”