WB I-696 Lanes Closed For Repairs Following Fiery Crash

ROYAL OAK, MI — Westbound I-696 from I-75 to Woodward Avenue will have the left two lanes closed until Friday for concrete repairs as a result of a fiery crash Monday involving tractor-trailer and two vehicles, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. Additional work on the median wall may close the left lane of eastbound I-696 from Woodward to I-75, too.

The crash occurred about 2 p.m. Monday and closed both sides of the freeway for about 30 minutes. Remarkably, no one was hurt despite the intense heat and flames that shot high into the air.

Another local resident, Dave Kowarski said he heard the impact and then an explosion. “I came over and I was talking to the gentleman, he went out to help the two girls,” he told CBS Detroit. “The truck driver went out right though the window; he said he dove through the window, and the two girls got out through the sunroof, which is amazing.”

The two young women he mentioned were in a Dodge Durango that also caught fire. At least one more vehicle, a car, was completely incinerated “They need to play the lottery. Everybody’s lucky to be alive today,” Kowarski said.

For more, go to CBS Detroit.

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Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Public Transportation