At 1:30 a.m. ET, the highway was closed between Westney Road and Whites Road in both directions
Ontario Provincial Police say that at least one person died after a crash and a huge fire on Highway 401 in Pickering, east of Toronto, on Tuesday night.
Three vehicles, including two transport trucks and a passenger car, crashed on the highway near Brock Road around 11 p.m., said Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, a spokesperson for the OPP’s Highway Safety Division. The crash caused a fire.
As of 1:30 a.m., both directions of the highway were closed while crews watched the fire. Police said it will be hard to get to work in the morning.
Schmidt said, “There were reports of a huge fire, a crash, and explosions.”
As of 1:30 a.m. ET, one transport truck was still on fire and crews couldn’t get to it. The fires in the other cars burned them up, and the fires were put out.
Delays and damag
Schmidt said, “There may be more injuries to report once that fire is out and we can figure out what’s going on.”
“As this fluid has been going into the catch basins, there have been reports of explosions along the sewers.”
Schmidt said that they don’t know what the smoke and toxins are.He said that firefighters from Pickering and Toronto were at the scene waiting for the fire to go out before they started working on it.
He also said that there were long delays on the highway for several kilometers and that the fire had damaged the Brock Road overpass.
He said that because of the crash and fire, hundreds of cars were stuck in traffic. Schmidt told people who were stuck in traffic to wait until officers told them what to do before turning around or going backwards.
Police said that westbound Highway 401 at Westney Road and eastbound Highway 401 at Whites Road are closed while they look into the crash.
Schmidt said that the investigation is likely to go on until Wednesday morning.
Schmidt had said earlier, “We’re having big problems right now. A tanker truck fire that started more than an hour ago is still burning. On the eastbound side, all traffic is stopped and forced off at Brock Road. “There’s no way for cars going west to get by,” he said.
Durham Regional Police are telling people in Pickering who live close to where the fire is to close their doors and windows.
Police said they want to talk to the people who were in the red Chevy Volt that was in the accident on the 401.
Drivers are asked to stay away from the area.