GALESBURG, MI (WTVB) – Michigan State Police say with another couple inches of fresh snow on Branch County area roads today, drivers again need to observe slower speeds and put more distance between themselves and other cars. They stress if motorists had done that Friday on I-94 in Kalamazoo County, that huge 193 vehicle collision would likely not have happened.
It’s a little worse for wear, but I-94 has now fully reopened to traffic. They will be meeting in the very near future to debrief this incident, develop an after-action report, and compile lessons learned. State Police Lt. Rick Pazder says there has mostly been praise for the way local agencies carried out the response. Cleaning up the mess on the interstate took nearly 40-hours and while that may seem like a long time, emergency responders had some vexing and potentially dangerous issues to deal with.
That semi hauling 40,000 pounds of fireworks is said to still be smoldering. It was taken to a remote location at Fort Custer where it can burn itself out safely. A tanker loaded with volatile formic acid was freezing up, the chemical was getting thick and difficult to transfer to another tanker. Agencies say their response was also hampered by the intense cold and slippery conditions that caused the wreck in the first place, and by limited resources.
The westbound lanes were opened late Saturday night. The eastbound lanes, where the fires occurred, were finally opened about 5 hours later. There was some pitting to the surface of the interstate and a sign was posted warning drivers of the rough ride.
