Alternate Route Advised

CREDIT: WXYZ TV

News reports that a hideous accident has occurred on I-75 at 9 Mile Road in Hazel Park just north of Detroit. At least one, possibly more, trucks were destroyed--including the tanker trust that caused the crash--and the bridge has collapsed. Casualties unknown.

Prayers to all. This is the last thing the city needed.

BREAKING: Massive Fire in Hazel Park

Last Update: 9:33 pm


Slideshow HAZEL PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) - A tanker truck--and possibly two or three semi trucks--has exploded in the vacinity of northbound I-75/I-696/Nine Mile Road in Hazel Park, causing a massive fire and explosion. Eyewitnesses say the tanker tried to make it under the Nine Mile overpass but the top of the tanker hit the bridge, causing the explosion. It is not known what the tanker was carrying. A Michigan State Police officer told Action News reporter Cheryl Chodun that there were "two or three" trucks involved in the explosion.

I-75 has been shut down in both directions from the center of the fire. Response teams from Hazel Park, Madison Heights and Ferndale are at the scene.

Multiple sources have told Action News that the overpass has collapsed at the center of the fire. The explosion, according to witnesses, occurred around 8:15 p.m.

Action News crews are on the way to the scene.

PS. I was going to drive this precise route tomorrow morning to go to Court. Guess not.

ADDENDUM: 10:10 PM EDT

I-75 has been closed, north to south, at Mile Marker 48 (Ambassador Bridge) for the last year and a half--they were reconstructing the approaches to Canada. They just reopened that chokepoint only ten days ago or so.

Now this (Mile Marker 56 or so).

It's always one damned thing or another here in Detroit. Christ help us.

ADDENDUM 10:15 PM EDT



Credit: "Yo-Yo" at Free Republic

This is the route in better days. The church is St. Josephat's*, a very-Trad Catholic parish. As you approach it, you see the cross at the top PERFECTLY ALIGNED with the Renaissance Center (now GM Headquarters) in the background.

ADDENDUM 10:33 PM EDT

Over at www.freerepublic.com, some SOBs are already blaming this on Muslims.

We've come a long way since the 70s, when they would have blamed the blacks. Or the Polacks.**

To: just me

Lots of Islamics in Michigan.

Just sayin'.


posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:24:16 PM by Lazamataz
* * *

To: MikefromOhio
And in the very week that
some nutzo blogger tried to frame this entire forum as racist. Way to go.
On the other hand, Islam is not a race.

Situation looks pretty bad - I hope that everyone survived.

34 posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:43:00 PM by meyer


To: just me
I can’t understand how a tanker would hit
an overpass. Most gasoline tankers are under 12 feet tall and all overpasses, unless marked otherwise, are supposed to be 13 ft 6 inches.
Being in the United States Radical Islamic headquarters area, I would bet that some terrorist put bombs into the hose tubes on the truck and exploded by cell phone. (all sarcasm of course, but you never know).

37 posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:45:04 PM by antiunion person (PALIN/JINDAL 2012)
* * *

To: MikefromOhio
And in the very week that some nutzo blogger tried to frame this entire forum as racist. Way to go.

Islam is an intolerant 'religion' that worships a black rock, has a pedophile for a prophet, and who's many extremist members commit numerous acts of terrorism.

Just sayin'.


47 posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:54:23 PM by Lazamataz

To: Lazamataz
Watch this.....
Just saying..........

www.answeringmuslims.com/2009/07/special-report-sharia-comes-to-dearborn.html


79 posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 10:19:51 PM by sweetiepiezer

PS. To FREEPERS Sweetiepiezer, meyer, antiunion person, and especially Lazmataz: Screw you. Shut your mouths until you know what is going on.

ADDENDUM 7-16-09 0630

Excellent pix here: http://multimedia.detnews.com/pix/photogalleries/newsgallery/i75fire/

Reports are that there was only one person hurt: the driver of the tanker--broken legs only. Nontrivial but burn free, thank God. Reports are that he cel phoned his wife from an ambulance.

The bridge is hard down, tho. THAT'S gonna take months to fix.

ADDENDUM July 17, 2009

Word is that the bridge will not be replaced until November. No word on how long before the freeway is reopened.

A story in today's Detroit News says that the crash was caused by a new driver who plowed into the tanker accidentally when taking the 9 Mile Curve too fast on I-75. The News identified one Saied Haidarian-Shahri, 27, of Clawson, as the driver. He's a graduate student of computer science at Wayne State and just got his driver's license in May.

And he's from Iran.

Now THAT'S gonna give the racist swine at FreeRepublic paroxyms of joy.

ADDENDUM JULY 21

The freeway is now reopened. A veritable miracle. They say the bridge won't be rebuilt for another five months, tho.

Video of the explosion here. Unbelievable!

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/multimedia/player/index.php?id=3681

________________________
*St. Josephat's ("St. Jo's"), not St. Jehosephat's. My bad.

**I can say Polacks; I'm 1/8 Polish (Kashoupian, to be precise).