UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A fire truck was hit by a semi truck while responding to a multi-vehicle crash on I-71 near Union Township in Warren County early Wednesday morning, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
OSHP said first, at around 1:30 a.m., troopers responded for a three-vehicle crash that happened on I-71 near Union Township.
At that crash, OSHP determiend a 56-year-old woman driving a 2021 Subaru Legacy lost control of her vehicle and crashed into the concrete approach slab of a bridge overpass. The vehicle then traveled back into the southbound lantes of the highway and hit a tractor-double trailer. After that, the Subaru was hit again by another semi truck, OSHP said.
The second semi involved in the crash also traveled off the left side of the road and hit a guard rail; in the course of the crash, the semi truck's fuel saddle was hit, causing it to lose diesel fuel across the southbound lanes of the highway, OSHP said.
Then, around 20 minutes later, at 1:49 a.m., a Deerfield Township Fire Department fire engine was on scene working to block a lane. The fire truck was then struck by yet another semi truck.
In the end, the woman in the Subaru and her passenger were both taken to Bethesda North Hospital with injuries that troopers called "non-life-threatening." The woman was also cited for failure to maintain reasonable control of a motor vehicle.
OSHP said there was then a third crash involving two semi trucks in the traffic backup caused by the initial two crashes.
No one else was hurt in the crashes.
The southbound lanes of I-71 were closed for several hours Wednesday morning following both crashes; the highway fully reopened by around 8:30 a.m.
