Truck Accident Closes I-94 Ramps At Schaefer Road

DEARBORN, MI — An overturned semi-truck closed the ramps to I-94 at Schaefer Road in Dearborn Tuesday afternoon. The truck was carrying a load of car batteries when it rolled over on the ramp from westbound I-94 to southbound Schaefer, according to a WDIV Channel 4 report.

The incident occurred at about 2:05 p.m. No other vehicles were involved in the accident, but the driver of the semi was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, the Detroit Free Press reported. A HAZMAT team responded to the scene to cleanup a small amount of sulfuric acid from the batteries, the newspaper reported.

The truck was believed to be headed to a Ford plant at the time of the accident, according to Dearborn Fire Department officials. Some of the batteries were damaged in the accident.

"Those batteries have sulfuric acid in them," Dearborn Fire Chief Fire Chief Joseph Murray told the Detroit Free Press. "Because the truck flipped over, some of them are leaking. ... There's no imminent threat to anybody."

A HAZMAT team comprised of multiple agencies in western Wayne County municipal agencies worked Tuesday afternoon to neutralize, and clean up the acid. "They have the scene secured and mitigated to prevent flow into the sewers," Murray told the Free Press.

It was unclear late Tuesday afternoon when the ramps would reopen. WDIV reported that a Dearborn fire engine became temporarily stuck in the mud while getting to the scene on I-94.

Earlier: Two I-94 freeway ramps are closed and a HAZMAT team is cleaning up a small amount of spilled sulfuric acid after a semi-truck carrying automotive batteries overturned this afternoon in Dearborn. The ramps are to Schaefer Road.

Photo by Danny Canfield via Flickr Commons