I-5 in Chehalis reopens after early morning crash

Three people were injured and all lanes of southbound Interstate 5 were closed for about seven hours Tuesday morning after two tractor-trailers struck a pickup truck in Chehalis near Labree Road, according to the Washington State Patrol.

At about 4:15 a.m., the pickup truck was southbound when it lost control and struck a jersey barrier. The two tractor-trailers then struck the pickup and it rolled and caught fire. One of those tractor-trailers was transporting hazardous material, but officials said there was no risk to the public.

The southbound crash burst through the median and triggered a single-car crash on northbound I-5. The northbound crash also closed multiple lanes for several hours. One northbound lane reopened to traffic at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The driver of the pickup truck, a 54-year-old Centralia man, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious injuries, while one of the tractor-trailer drivers, a 41-year-old Vancouver man, and one occupant in the single-car crash, a 40-year-old man from Olympia, were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with minor injuries, according to the state patrol.

This story was originally published February 6, 2018 at 8:33 AM with the headline "I-5 in Chehalis reopens after early morning crash."