This morning, just before 3:00, emergency crews were dispatched to a serious crash in the southbound lanes of I-69 near the 212 mile marker. The first responders to the scene encountered two heavily damaged vehicles both engulfed in flames with a significant amount of crash debris spread across the interstate. The responding officers on scene requested Troopers from ISP to investigate the crash. Both the southbound and northbound lanes of I-69 were required to be closed due to the debris and the fires.
Preliminary investigation by the Indiana State Police determined a southbound SUV crashed into the back of a heavy duty utility truck that was carrying welding supplies. The impact ignited some of the tanks containing oxygen and acetylene causing a large fire. The driver of the SUV was entrapped in the vehicle and pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the truck was transported to a local hospital for check-out and released a short time later. It is important to note the truck was not stopped at the time of the crash, it was traveling at highway speeds when the SUV rear-ended it.
The remains of the deceased driver were recovered by the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office who is working to identify the person.
The southbound lanes were closed for nearly six hours while the crash was investigated and the wreckage was removed. The northbound lanes were closed for almost four hours and required heavy equipment to remove the debris. The interstate closure was also a result of a very large amount of fuel that had leaked out of the truck covering all three lanes for approximately 50 yards.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation and there is no further information to release at this time.
Several agencies assisted at the scene including the Fishers Police Department, the Noblesville Police Department, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Noblesville Fire Department, Fishers Fire Department, INDOT and the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office