6-vehicle crash blocked I-5 traffic in Thurston County for nearly 5 hours Thursday
A six-vehicle crash, including two semi-trailers, blocked northbound I-5 near Maytown in Thurston County for more than four hours Thursday.
Although as many as 15 vehicles were reported to have been involved in the crash, the actual number was six, according to a State Patrol memo released after the wreck.
According to the State Patrol and Trooper Ryan Burke:
About 12:30 p.m. Thursday, a white passenger vehicle, reportedly being driven erratically, crashed into the center jersey barrier on the freeway. A second vehicle then crashed into the white car.
The driver of the white car, a 20-year-old Chehalis man, then pulled back into traffic and left the scene. That caused a semi-trailer driver to hit the brakes, prompting a second semi-trailer to hit the brakes and crash into the jersey barrier, pushing it into the southbound lanes.
A fifth vehicle then crashed into the second semi-trailer and a sixth vehicle, headed south, crashed into the displaced jersey barrier.
Only one person was injured: A 63-year-old Tumwater woman who was evaluated at the scene, according to the State Patrol.
The State Patrol classified the crash as a “personal injury hit-and-run collision.” The Chehalis man was driving at a “speed too fast for conditions,” which were wet after heavy rain swept through the area Thursday afternoon, the State Patrol reported.
Northbound I-5 was blocked for nearly five hours.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
