6-vehicle pileup on I-79 blocks traffic
Police, paramedics and fire departments responded to a six-vehicle crash involving a Noga EMS vehicle and five other cars close to the Lindsay Road on-ramp to Interstate 79 South at mile marker 83 at 10:08 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company Chief Scott Garing said the crash was a “chain reaction, rear-end-style” pileup and that traffic had been backed up due to construction further along on I-79.
“This was the backlog from the bridge construction,” Garing said.
There were multiple injuries reported, with injured people being taken to local trauma centers, he said.
The Noga EMS vehicle crashed into the back of a grey car, which was badly damaged. The EMS vehicle was transporting a patient, who was transferred to another EMS vehicle after the crash. Noga is based out of Lawrence County.
According to firefighters speaking to Butler County 911 dispatchers, all patients were transported by 10:54 a.m. A patient was taken by Cranberry EMS to the Cranberry UPMC Passavant helipad to be LifeFlighted, Garing said.
Jay Grinnell, director of Harmony Emergency Medical Services, said that nine people were involved in the accident.
“It causes a big problem because now we have taken every ambulance from the area,” he said. “All of Harmony's are out, and all of Cranberry's are out, and Quality, I believe they had everything they had here.”
Traffic on southbound I-79 was blocked until 10:53 a.m. when fire company members diverted cars around the accident.
A detour was established with traffic getting off at Exit 88 southbound and returning to the interstate in Cranberry Township at mile marker 78, according to a memo from the state Department of Transportation.
PennDOT reported that traffic on I-79 Southbound had been reopened between exits 85 and 78 at 4:42 p.m.
Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company said in a post on its Facebook page that the fire crew extricated one patient from a vehicle and assisted with patient care and traffic control.
“This is the third major accident we have responded to at this location while traffic is down to a single lane at the North Boundary Road overpass in the last few weeks due to traffic back-ups and stops,” the post read. “Our thoughts go out to all involved. Please be safe on the roads.”
Harmony Area Fire District, Pennsylvania State Police Troop D, Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company, Harmony EMS, UPMC Passavant Advanced Response Unit, Portesrville-Muddy Creek EMS, Cranberry EMS, Quality EMS and Noga EMS responded to the incident.
