The fiery and fatal crash that closed eastbound Interstate 80 for more than eight hours Saturday was caused by a semitrailer colliding into another commercial truck parked on the shoulder, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reports.
The crash happened a little before 9:40 a.m. at milepost 223 near Rawlins, and WHP troopers found one truck on fire and wreckage across both lanes of traffic, said Trooper Ryan Gerdes in a Monday afternoon press release.
“A red 2022 Freightliner Cascadia crossed over the right fog line and struck the left rear corner of a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder,” the release says. “The Freightliner and its trailer jackknifed and skidded across the eastbound lanes, coming to rest blocking both lanes.”
The release goes on to report that when they crashed, the Freightliner “became engulfed in flames and the driver succumbed to their injuries.”
When contacted by Cowboy State Daily on Monday, Carbon County Coroner Brittany Nyman said the victim has been identified, but they are waiting for confirmation from next-of-kin before making it public.
One reason the crash took so long to clear is that despite this particular incident not involving a hazardous materials spill, that has to be assumed when commercial vehicles crash, Gerdes told Cowboy State Daily.
“Especially when they catch on fire, we are always concerned about hazardous materials,” he said.
In the hours after the crash, I-80 eastbound was closed for miles before and after Rawlins. By 6 p.m., the closures had been dropped and the highway open again.
Along with cleaning up the wreckage, the highway closure was extended because crews were also working to put out grass fires along the interstate caused by the crash, the Wyoming Department of Transportation reported Saturday.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
