Crime & Safety

Two I-95 Accidents in Norwalk Slow Traffic for Hours

At 9:45 a.m. the first accident occurred between Exits 14 and 13 in the southbound lanes, then two hours later another accident occurred in the same section of highway, also southbound. Two people were taken to Norwalk Hospital.

The Norwalk Fire Department on Thursday responded to two motor vehicle accidents on Interstate 95 between Exits 13 and 14.

Southbound traffic on the highway was "slowed to a crawl" from 9:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. as a result, Deputy Fire Chief Edward Prescott said in a news release. The accidents occurred about two hours apart.

In the first accident, at about 9:45 a.m., a sport utility vehicle struck another one from behind. The struck vehicle then hit a Jersey barrier. Paramedics put the driver of that SUV on a board and applied a collar to the driver's neck before transporting the driver to Norwalk Hospital. The second driver had left his vehicle and was uninjured when firefighters arrived.

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For another 30 minutes, two lanes of the highway were closed while a cleanup crew from the state Department of Transportation removed broken glass, fluid and debris from the vehicles.

At 11:45 a.m., another accident took place involving four vehicles in what firefighters described as a chain-reaction accident. The last vehicle needed to be towed from the scene, although the other vehicles were drivable. One person was taken to Norwalk Hospital. After this accident, road crews worked on both sides of the highway to get debris cleared while, again, two lanes were shut down. State police and Fire Department personnel cleared the scene for traffic again by 12:55 p.m.

Find out what's happening in Norwalkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Fire Department typically sends three vehicles to highway accidents: A rescue truck, a fire engine and a command car. The rescue truck has equipment on it that may be used to extricate someone from a vehicle, and the engine can hose down fluid on the roadway if necessary, Prescott said in an interview.

Two lanes of traffic are normally closed after a highway accident, Prescott said. "We knock down a lane more than we need to just to slow the cars down," he said. "Otherwise, you'll have people going full speed right next to you. ... It's one of the most dangerous places to be."

The fire engine is usually used to block the second lane, Prescott said. Not only do many drivers rubberneck nowadays, he said, "They're taking pictures, now. They're texting. It's amazing."


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