Fatal Wyoming tunnel crash and fire initiated by pickup that spun out
Last month's fiery pileup that killed three people near Green River, Wyoming, was started by a pickup truck that lost control and hit a guardrail just outside the tunnel exit, according to federal investigators.
The Valentine's Day crash occurred on a stretch of Interstate 80 and involved a combination of tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles. Twenty people were injured.
A 2006 Toyota Tundra sput out as it exited the two-lane tunnel, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report released Wednesday. Snow had fallen earlier in the day and ice and/or slush may have still existed at the exit despite the clear weather conditions at the time of the 11:33 a.m. accident.
The Toyota, travelling in the left lane, veered left and struck a metal guardrail, then came to rest 150 feet later. It was blocking the right lane of westbound traffic and part of the left lane, per the report.
A 2024 Peterbilt semi following the Toyota hit the inside of the tunnel's left wall but managed to avoid the pickup. The Peterbilt driver pulled over to the right shouler.
A 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee hit the same guardrail and also avoided the Toyota. It skidded across both lanes of traffic and stopped on the hillside above the right shoulder.
However, the next vehicles weren't so lucky. Farther back in the tunnel, a 2020 Volvo semi in the right lane jackknifed in response to the activity in front of it. It stopped 200 feet short of the tunnel's exit, blocking both lanes. A 2020 Dodge Ram pickup carrying four people in the left lane then struck the Volvo tractor. That pickup truck was "overrun" by a 2019 Freightliner semi which, carrying the Dodge, plowed through the Volvo tractor and out of the tunnel. Those two vehicles then hit the Toyota pickup and the rear of the Peterbilt's trailer.
Behind them, other vehicles collided inside the tunnel. A fire started and black smoke filled the tunnel as traffic backed up inside it and beyond the entrance.
A semi driver who could not escape his cab was killed in the fire. Two of the people in the Dodge pickup died of their injuries.
The NTSB report did not state a total number of vehicles involved. But an earlier count from the Wyoming Highway Patrol estimated 26 vehicles -- 10 passenger vehicles and 16 commercial trucks. Six commercial vehicles and two passenger vehicles were completely destroyed by the fire, the state agency reported.
The speed limit inside the tunnel had been reduced from 65 mph to 55 mph the night before the crash due to the weather conditions.
Following the crash, both directions of travel on I-80 were diverted through the town of Green River as investigators pulled charred vehicles from the westbound bore. The eastbound lanes were re-opened three days later to handle both directions of travel separated by jersey barriers. That arrangement is still in place.
March 17, Wyoming Department of Transportation personnel and contractors started their cleanup and evaluation the extent of damage to the tunnel's concrete and support structure.
Both sides of the tunnel are 1,138 feet in length. It was built in 1966. It is not equipped with a sprinkler or fire suppression system.
The Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel on Colorado's Interstate 70 runs 1.7 miles in length. Its two-lane bores were finished separately in 1968 and 1973. A $25 million fire suppression system was installed in 2015.
At the time the project was announced, the Colorado Department of Transportation had tallied nine fires inside the tunnel over its history. Two of those fires damaged the interior and required lanes of traffic be shut down for repairs.
At 11,112 feet in elevation, the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel was the highest in the world when it was built. The system is heated to keep water in it from freezing.
The NTSB is continuing to investigate the Green River incident "with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar events," as stated in its preliminary report.
