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A 10-vehicle accident on Interstate 81 near Fairfield Saturday morning sent four people to local hospitals and shut down the interstate for several hours.
It was one of two accidents that closed down interstates in Rockbridge County last week. An RV vehicle fire on Friday shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 64 west of Kerrs Creek for about two hours.
The Saturday accident is still under investigation by the Virginia State Police, but a VPS spokesman and Kevin Moore, Rockbridge County Fire-Rescue deputy fire chief, confirmed that nine passenger vehicles and a tractor-tractor were involved in the accident, which occurred at 10:16 a.m., near mile marker 199, southbound between the Fairfield exit and the rest stop.
Moore said some vehicles were on their side or overturned and the tractor-trailer had run into the guardrail when first responders arrived. He said lots of patients were treated on the scene, but most suffered just scrapes and bruises. Four were transported to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
There were no hazardous materials issues at the scene, and only one fire department, South River, was needed. However, rescue units from Fairfield, Lexington, Buena Vista and Kerrs Creek joined the fire department and Rockbridge County Fire-Rescue on the scene.
Moore noted that the Virginia Department of Transportation brought over its work program bus to take some of those involved in the accident to the South River firehouse, getting them out of the hot sun while they waited for someone to pick them up. Others rode with the multiple tow trucks away from the scene.
Both lanes of the interstate were closed for about two hours, with an emergency lane opened at that time to get traffic going again. The interstate closure backed up traffic well into southern Augusta County and southbound travelers endeavored to skirt the accident scene as well as a backed up U.S. 11 by heading down small country roads to the west of the interstate. - Moore was also among those responding to the vehicle fire on Interstate 64 at mile marker 47 westbound on Friday, a call that came in about 1 p.m.
He said the RV, which was a family’s home, was completely destroyed by the fire. No one was hurt, but the family did lose all of its possessions. The family did have a car, normally pulled by the RV, which was parked at the time at a nearby campground.
Moore said the propane tank on the RV vented as it is supposed to in order to avoid an explosion, but the venting – which shot out a flame – did cause a grass fire in the median, which firefighters were able to quickly extinguish.
Responding to the call were units from Rockbridge Baths, Goshen and Kerrs Creek, as well as Rockbridge County Fire-Rescue. Buena Vista and Lexington units were initially dispatched but weren’t needed
