Two semi-trailer trucks sparked a fiery crash and an out-of-control truck overturned into opposite-direction lanes in accidents that shut down separate portions of the Tri-State Tollway for more than an hour, Illinois State Police said this morning. But only minor injuries were reported.
Charles Harding was driving his semi behind another one that began to slow down, police said. Harding, who did not slow down quickly enough, swerved to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of him, but it was too late.
"His fuel tanks were ruptured, caught fire and (his truck) burned up," said state police Master Sgt. Mark Piercy. Harding managed to escape his truck before the fire erupted,
About 40 minutes later, another semi was in the southbound lanes at Dempster Street in Park Ridge when the driver lost control and swerved into the center divider, causing the trailer to overturn onto the northbound lanes, Piercy said.
Another semi in the northbound lanes tried to avoid the overturned trailer and its cargo, which spilled onto those lanes, but hit a northbound pickup truck and a taxicab in the process.
