Debris has been cleared, lanes reopened, and traffic is moving again after a series of wrecks on highway 401.
First responders including Brighton Fire and the OPP responded to a tractor trailer that caught fire late Thursday night on the westbound lane of the 401, between Brighton and Colborne. Fire crews arrived at approximately 11:40pm to find the load on the trailer had caught fire. Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before managing to extinguish it. The highway was closed during the fire, but had re-opened to one lane by 3am.
Early in the morning, two additional unrelated accidents in the area added more disruptions to the highway. The first incident was also in the westbound lane involved three tractor trailers and a passenger vehicle. One truck ended up rolled over in the center median while the passenger vehicle was in the ditch on the south of the highway. The driver of the passenger vehicle was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and none of the truck drivers were reported injured. Several lanes were closed to remove the disabled vehicles.
The third accident happened in the eastbound lane, involving a transport truck and a passenger vehicle towing a boat. The passenger vehicle ended up in a ditch off the highway while the truck came to a stop on the shoulder. The people riding in the passenger vehicle were sent to the hospital as a precaution, but no injuries were reported.
The last of the lane closures due to the series of accidents was lifted at 11:15 this morning, after crews removed the damaged vehicles and cleaned up any debris. Investigations by the OPP into the accidents are ongoing.
