Emergency personnel were dispatched around 11:20 p.m. Tuesday to mile marker 103.5, just south of the Ravine exit, for a reported motor vehicle crash with possible fire.
According to Pine Grove Township Fire Rescue, multiple callers reported that two tractor-trailers and possibly a passenger vehicle were involved, prompting officials to upgrade the response to a rescue assignment.
Firefighters arrived to find two tractor-trailers involved, with one overturned and the other remaining upright. A fire had already been extinguished by a truck driver before emergency crews arrived.
No one was trapped, but the wreckage and a large debris field blocked the entire southbound side of the interstate.
Emergency personnel provided patient care, controlled leaking fluids and directed traffic. An air medical helicopter was initially requested but was later canceled when the patient was transported by ground ambulance.
Motter’s Towing and PennDOT worked to open one lane temporarily so vehicles caught behind the crash could pass. PennDOT personnel were also sent to close the highway at Exit 104.
As crews prepared to clear the initial crash, the Schuylkill County Communications Center received a report of another possible accident near Exit 104. Emergency personnel investigated and found another tractor-trailer overturned near the southbound entrance ramp.
Some units returned north in the closed southbound lanes to assist at the second crash, where crews provided fluid control.
The incidents prompted an extended closure of I-81 South while the overturned vehicles, debris and spilled fluids were cleared from the roadway.
Pine Grove Township Fire Rescue was assisted by Pine Grove EMS, Ravine Fire Company and emergency personnel from Lebanon County. PennDOT and towing crews also responded.
The interstate reopened to traffic late Wednesday morning.
The Pennsylvania State Police at Jonestown is investigating the crash.
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