Multiple crashes during heavy snowfall brought traffic on westbound Interstate 40 to a standstill late Sunday afternoon west of Williams.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper was westbound checking for trucks blocking the Interstate when he came upon 2 trucks and several cars that had collided and were blocking the Interstate near mile marker 158.4.
The Williams Fire Department was requested to respond to another accident with injuries further west and became stuck and unable to proceed on the Interstate behind the first accident along with DPS and a Murphy’s Towing tow truck.
Another DPS Trooper arrived at the accident further west that involved a big rig and a passenger car. He reported that 2 children, ages 9 and 11 were injured in that crash and requested fire and ambulance assistance.
The Ash Fork Fire Department and Lifeline Ambulance were requested to respond from the west to try to reach the accident. They were assisted by an Arizona Department of Transportation snow plow in attempting to reach the scene by driving the wrong way in the westbound lanes while heavy snow was falling.
Due to the difficulty and time delay in reaching the injured children, Williams Fire Captain Cameron Maebe, along with 2 Firefighters, walked about a mile westbound on the Interstate with their medical equipment to reach the accident scene. Both children were treated and eventually loaded into Lifeline Ambulances and transported to a hospital in Prescott. While the children were reportedly seriously injured, they are expected to survive.
Adot, DPS Troopers, and Murphy’s Towing worked their way eastbound clearing stuck cars and trucks in the westbound lanes and eventually got traffic moving again.
