Teutopolis FPD Respond To Two Accidents Only Hours Apart On I-70 In Construction Zone

On Friday 3/24/2023 at 7:16 hours, Firefighters from Teutopolis with auto-aid from Montrose FPD were dispatched for a single vehicle accident involving a tractor trailer semi on Interstate 70 eastbound at the 102 mile marker. Upon arrival, Firefighters found the semi partially on the roadway and in the center median totally blocking eastbound traffic and pushed the concrete barrier wall approximately 3’ in to the westbound lane. This incident occurred in the construction zone were only one lane of travel exists in each direction with no shoulder. The driver had self-extricated himself and was transported by Rural Med EMS to the hospital. Heartland Towing & Recovery, IDOT, and Howell (the Interstate contractor) were all on scene along with ISP. Heartland was able to pull the semi off the lane of traffic (from the closed eastbound lane side) to allow the traffic backup from the I-57 / I-70 split to clear out. IDOT diverted all eastbound traffic from the I-57 / I-70 split to northbound I-57 detour route. Once the backed up traffic was cleared, IDOT and Howell crews worked to clean the roadway and reset the concrete barrier wall. Firefighters cleared the scene at 8:19 hours.